


Kyojin University

by onelittlebluejay



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fencing, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-04 21:45:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 60,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onelittlebluejay/pseuds/onelittlebluejay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a freshman at the infamous Kyojin University, home of the Titans. While there, he joins the fencing team and discovers that the man behind the captain's mask and blade may turn out to be one of his worst nightmares. Also, what's with that biology major who keeps wanting to use him for her experiments? LevixEren, JeanxMarco, YmirxKrista, and more!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Kyojin University!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome to Kyojin University!**

_Hellooooooo incoming freshman! Welcome to Kyojin University, home of…you guessed it…the Titans! My name is Zoe Hanji, senior and biology major in the Shinganshina School of Arts and Sciences, and co-captain of our infamous Recon Fencing Team! I'll be the voice you hear throughout the next few days of orientation, so keep your eyes and ears open! Hopefully your move-in process will go as smoothly as possible—make yourselves at home, because this IS your new home for the next four years. Don't hesitate to try and find me if you have any questions, and remember…GOOOOOO TITANS!_

Eren Jaeger groaned as he dragged his heavy suitcase up yet another flight of stairs. To his dismay, the elevators were out of the question—too many students with moving carts and crying parents for him to bear with. Plus, it would take 15 minutes for an elevator to reach the lobby of Maria Hall. His ears will still ringing with the sound of the Zoe's voice blasting from the P.A. system—unfortunately for him, this was the third time he had heard the announcement today, thanks to a mix-up with his last name. The orientation leaders had made the same mistake everyone had made with his last name—placing him in the Q-Z group of students to move in instead of H-P.

Eren thought of his mother as he continued to struggle up the fifth flight of stairs. As much as he had resisted going to University—Eren was convinced that he was destined to fail college, and instead wanted to join the Military Police—his mother would not have it. There had been many arguments that had ended in tears due to his mother's weakness because of her sickness, with Eren apologizing over and over again as he caressed her hand.

Once the accident had happened, Eren did not hesitate to fill out an application to Kyojin University—despite the fact that his father had gone there, and had tearfully informed his mother of his acceptance as she lay on that small bed in the hospital—

 _I'm doing this for her,_ Eren thought, biting his lip as he climbed the stairs,  _I'm going to make you proud, mother._

He grunted, managing to lift the damned piece of luggage up the last stair, and opened the door to the 7th floor of Maria Hall.

What greeted him was utter chaos.

Since Eren was in the last group to move in, most of the other people on his floor had already made themselves at home. Loud music blasted from a room to his left, while on his right two guys were arguing over who would sleep on what side of the room. Students were running around the halls, throwing basketballs, kicking soccer balls—one guy was even skateboarding.

 _Am I the last person to move in?_  Eren vaguely wondered as he passed a room where a group of guys were huddled playing a video game.

"Hey Eren!" one of the boys in the room called, to Eren's surprise. His eyes widened when he recognized one of his friends from high school, Connie Springer, rise from the group. Eren quickly set down his suitcase as Connie nearly knocked him over in a hug.

"Connie! I didn't know you went here!" Eren exclaimed as Connie released him, "What made you change your mind?" Like Eren, Connie had also expressed an interest in joining the Military Police after high school.

"You know, something just changed in me," Connie said, scratching his head, still sporting the buzz-cut from when he was filling out his application for the Military Police. "I was all ready to go and start training, but I met someone who convinced me to try school instead during the winter break of last year. So then I applied here, and somehow got in!"

"But what about second semester? Graduation? I never saw you," Eren replied, still trying to wrap his head around the information Connie was giving him.

"I was homeschooled for the last semester while I was still trying to figure things out…but I got my diploma, and that's all that matters, right?"

"Right!" exclaimed Eren, grinning, "So, who convinced you to change your m-!"

"EREN!"

Suddenly Eren was knocked to the ground when a mass of blonde hair collided with him. He blinked, stunned, and then began laughing as he recognized his closest friend, Armin Arlert.

"Hey Armin! You've been moved in for a while huh?" he asked while trying to push his friend off of him—Armin just held on tighter.

"Eren! I know it was only two weeks but I missed you so much! Oh you wouldn't believe some of the people that were at the program; they were huge! Half of them didn't even believe I was in college, much less an honor student!"

Eren just laughed harder, finally managing to disentangle himself from the mass of limbs and helping his friend up. Armin looked a little intimidated as he noticed that they were standing in front of the room with a group of muscular guys who were staring at them, and took a step back cautiously.

"Oh don't worry, Armin," Connie said, stifling a laugh when he saw Armin's eyes widen when he recognized the boy who had been gone the second half of senior year, "These guys are cool, right Jean?"

 _Jean?,_ thought Eren,  _That's supposed to be my roommate…_

"Right," grumbled one of the guys, a tall one with light brown hair, looking anything but friendly. Eren flinched and Armin shrank back even more, doing his best to smile but ending up with a sort of grimace.

"Anyway…Armin, what floor are you on?" Eren asked, trying to break the awkwardness of the situation.

"I'm two floors below you! And guess what—Mikasa is right above you!" replied the blonde, "I wish you and I could have been roommates though….at least we're in the same dorm, right?"

"I wanted to live in Sina Hall," muttered the guy named Jean, before someone slapped the back of his head. "What gives, Marco!?"

"You need to stop complaining about your dorm assignment!" answered the one named Marco, a guy with dark hair and freckles, "Besides, it wouldn't work out with your major anyway."

Students were assigned to their dorms based on what major they were pursuing and, although it wasn't written, what they could afford. Most of the rich over-privileged students lived in Sina Hall…it was even said that some students were the sons and daughters of royalty, while others were celebrities being forced to go to school by their parents.

"Marco?" Armin suddenly piped up, stepping forward, "Marco Bodt?"

"That's me!" Marco answered, grinning, "You're my roommate, right?"

"Right! Nice to meet you!" Armin said back, beaming. However he blanched when Marco stood up to shake his hand—Marco was tall.

"Hey, you have nothing to worry about—Marco's a nice guy," said Connie, smirking. That seemed to calm Armin down a bit. Marco flashed the smaller boy a grin and Armin offered a shy smile back.

"Oh, Eren," said Connie, waving him over while Armin entered the room to talk to Marco, "You wanted to know who convinced me to go here, right?"

"Right…"

"Well, get this…he's our R.A.! His name is Reiner Braun!"

"Reiner Braun?" That name sounded familiar to Eren. If only he could remember why…

"Yeah! He's a junior, and I met him while registering for Military Police school. He had already been through a year of training and convinced me why going to University would be a better choice." At this Connie leaned in so only Eren could hear him:

"Eren, you should have seen some of the people there. They looked as if they had nothing left. Some of them were ex-criminals, some were drug-dealers…we wouldn't have made it there, Eren."

At this the brunette nodded, what little doubt he had about going to University slowly ebbing away.

"Oi, Jeager! Didn't your friend mention someone named Mikasa earlier? Do you mean Mikasa Ackerman?" came Jean's voice from inside the room.

"Yeah…what of it?" asked Eren cautiously.

"I might have seen her earlier…black hair and wearing a red scarf, right?"

"Yes," replied Eren, still confused.

"Wow, you have one hot friend, roomie. I'd like to get to know her a bit, if you know what I-!"

_WHAM._

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" shouted Jean a moment later, sporting a swollen cheek where Eren had run up and kicked him. Eren gritted his teeth and grabbed Jean by the front of his shirt, lifting him to his knees.

"Don't you EVER talk about her that way again," Eren growled, shaking him for emphasis, "If you get near her I won't hesitate to-!"

_SMACK._

And Eren was sent reeling into Marco, who was shouting at Jean to calm down. Connie had run over to restrain the taller boy with Marco while Armin had scampered over to Eren, checking for any injures.

 _"What is going on here?"_ boomed a voice from outside.

"Oh great, now we're in for it," mumbled Connie, still hanging on to Jean's arm.

In the doorway stood a tall, built man with short blonde hair sporting a furious expression on his face. At that moment Eren recognized him instantly.

_Reiner Braun!_


	2. Our R.A. is a Wrestling Champion?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin, blah blah blahhhhh (can I at least have Levi)?

**Chapter 2**

**Our R.A. is a Wrestling Champion?**

_That's Reiner Braun!_  Eren thought, panic slowly settling in his stomach,  _No wonder I recognized the name…_ He quickly ran though the list of unsettling facts he knew about the junior in his head: Reiner Braun. 21. 6'1". 209 pounds. Hometown unknown. Graduate of Shingeki High School…

_INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING CHAMPION AT AGE 15._

Oh. So that's why he remembered him.

Gulp.

He felt Armin start to tremble next to him while the adrenaline rush slowly began ebbing into nothingness, leaving behind a painful throbbing in his gut. Even Jean looked uneasy as Marco halted from fussing over his face. The R.A. standing in the doorway looked back and forth between Eren and Jean, and sighed, placing a hand on his hip. Armin and Eren glanced at each other.

"Honestly, getting into fights already?" Reiner asked, exasperated, "The semester hasn't even started yet…"

He was met with an awkward silence.

_Maybe I'll live to see another day after all,_ thought Eren. Meanwhile the R.A. had walked into the room, surveying the damage as well as the two freshmen on the floor. He clicked his tongue, sighing again.

"Guys, I don't want to remind you that you aren't in high school anymore," he continued, his expression stone cold. "You're adults. Act like it. Capish?"

Everyone in the room nodded vigorously, and to everyone's shock, Reiner let out a chuckle and grinned, dropping the serious act completely.

"Well that settles that!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "Now I'm Reiner Braun, by the way. I'm your R.A. I'll give you the formal speech later once everyone has moved in, but for now, would you mind telling me your names?"

Another awkward silence as the five boys gaped at the R.A.

"Alright then. Let's start with you!" he finished, pointing a finger at Armin, who blanched.

"Y-Yes! I'm Armin Arlert, uh, sir!" Armin cried, standing up quickly to extend a hand (and dropping Eren in the process), "It's very nice to meet you! I'm afraid I don't live on this floor, though…"

"No need for the 'sir,' Armin," Reiner said, shaking his hand, "You must be the honor student I've heard so much about right? This school needs more people like you."

"Um…I guess so," answered the blonde, flushing slightly.

"Great. Is that your stuff outside?" the taller male asked, gesturing to Eren's luggage that was still sitting outside of the room. At this Eren yelped, and rose to his feet gingerly.

"Uh, no, that stuff is mine!" he said nervously, "I still haven't moved in, you see…"

"Ah, so you must be Eren Jeager right? Or is it Thomas Wagner?"

"Uh…Eren."

"Well, then we have you get you moved in, don't we? I'll talk to the rest of you later. You, on the floor," Reiner said, pointing to Jean, "Make sure you get some ice for that sucker. We still have to get your pictures for your student ID cards. And these pictures stay on your card for all four years."

As Reiner led Eren out of the room to help him move in, Eren immediately imagined Jean having to carry around an ID card with a picture of his bruised face for his college career and stifled a giggle.

When the two arrived at Eren's room and unlocked the door, Eren gasped. The dorm rooms here were… _small._  Two beds, two desks, two dressers, and a single closet. A window with bars. This had to be some sort of prison room…

"I know it's not much, but once you're done with freshman year you get the opportunity to move to better dorms like Rose Hall," Reiner said, scratching the back of his head, "And it looks like your roommate already moved in, from what I can tell."

Clothes were strewn all over the floor, school supplies seemed to have been hastily dumped on the desk, and…were those dirty magazines? Apparently Jean was a pervert on top of being an asshole and a slob. Reiner saw the haunted expression on Eren's face, and laughed nervously.

"If you ever need anything, you can come find me," he offered, "Your roommate is Jean Kirstein, right? …Did he happen to be that other guy who was on the floor?"

Eren nodded guiltily.

"Ah…well, I'll have a word with you two later. I hope you can get settled as best as you can. We start orientation activities tonight! For now, I have to find that other student, Thomas Wagner…I'll catch you later, Eren!"

And with that, the International High School Wrestling Champion R.A. left, leaving Eren in a small dorm room feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed.

* * *

Once Eren had time to recollect his thoughts and unpack, he immediately began looking for Mikasa. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting to help her move in—he had driven her to the university in the morning, but had lost her amongst the mix-up of students while he tried to get his move-in time fixed.

Armin had mentioned that Mikasa lived one floor up (the floors were arranged so that boys lived on odd-numbered floors while girls lived on the even-numbered ones), so Eren took the stairs (not like he would be able to catch the elevator anyway), and opened the door to girls' floor.

Almost immediately he was tackled to the ground by a girl with black pigtails.

"We have our first guy visitor!" the girl shrieked, shaking a dazed Eren for emphasis, "He was brave enough to take the stairs, this one!" Eren could hear murmuring and hushed voices as he struggled to register what was going on. He vaguely realized that he was now surrounded by a group of girls, and he could feel the heat rising in his face. To his surprise, he heard rapid footsteps approaching the mass of people.

"Mina, get OFF of him!" came Mikasa's voice, to his relief. His adopted sister pushed through the crowd and tugged on Mina's arm. "That's my friend!"

Eren sighed in relief, feeling Mina's hands release his shirt as Mikasa knelt beside him. She glared at the rest of the girls around them and they all took a step back.

"So, Eren, were you able to move in alright?" she asked, as if they weren't having a conversation on the floor with about 20 girls watching them.

"Y-Yeah," Eren answered, seeing Mikasa's forced smile as he nodded. He didn't want to make the situation any more awkward than it already was. "I ran into a little bit of trouble with my roommate, though…we kind of got into a fight and-"

"Eren did he hurt you?" Mikasa demanded sharply, frowning, "I  _told_ you not to get into any fights! Who is he?"

"Um…his name is Jean," answered the brunette, "And it wasn't anything, really, he just sort of punched me in the gut-"

"If he lays a finger on you I will destroy him," Mikasa muttered menacingly, clenching her fists. She was about to go on until she was interrupted by squeals from the girls around them.

"You don't mean  _the_ Jean Kirstein, do you?" cried the girl named Mina. When Eren nodded she succumbed to more squealing as a blonde girl beside her gushed, "Oh my gosh, he used to be the star of the football team at my high school! Eren, you  _must_ introduce me to him sometime-!"

"Just what is all this noise for!?" shouted a female voice that sliced through the air. All of the girls quieted as a girl with blonde hair tied up in a bun made her way through to the center of the crowd. She had an icy gaze with piercing blue eyes.

"Krista," the girl said, focusing her glare on the wide-eyed blonde, "Do I need to remind you that we have quiet hours here? Or do I need to tell everyone your real name in order to make you understand?"

The girl named Krista shook her head, suddenly fearful. A tall girl with black hair tied in a ponytail put a comforting hand on her shoulder

"But Annie," said Mina beside her, "She was only freaking out because we found out from Eren here that  _Jean Kirstein_  goes here, and—"

"Eren?" asked Annie. Mina nodded and pointed to the boy on the floor, who flinched when the piercing gaze landed on him.

"There are no boys allowed on this floor during quiet hours," she said curtly. Mikasa clenched her teeth, but didn't say a word.

"But Annie, classes haven't even started yet! Can't you give him a break? Besides, it's not even official dorm rules," scoffed the girl who had put her hand on Krista's shoulder. Annie turned to face her, saying, "They aren't the official dorm rules, Ymir, but as the R.A. of this floor, I have a certain responsibility to make sure that you all buckle down to survive your first year here, and that means no distractions, which means… _no boys._ "

"You know, there  _are_ such things as same-sex relationships," the girl named Ymir muttered, but Annie had refocused her attention to Eren.

"Eren, was it? I'll let things slide this time, since you're new and it's still orientation and all that. But for future reference, there is a time of the day for quiet hours, and during that time no boys from the other floors can come here. I don't care what other girls' floors say, but on  _my_ floor, there is no exception. Please make sure to pass that along to your floor. Now please leave…you've already caused enough of a distraction."

"I'll take him back to his floor," said Mikasa, finally speaking up. When the R.A. nodded, Mikasa swiftly pulled Eren to his feet and dragged him out the door that led to the stairs.

"Wow…your R.A. sure is a…a…" started Eren, trying to find the right words to describe the scary woman.

"Hard-ass?" Mikasa suggested in a completely monotone voice. The two glanced at each other before bursting into laughter, stopping in the middle of the staircase as they shared the laugh that both of them had missed hearing after all of the stress that came with preparing for college.

"Mikasa, I don't know what I'd do without you," Eren said, placing his hand on the staircase rail, "I'm so glad you came here in the end."

"Wherever you go, I go," Mikasa answered as-a-matter-of-factly, her softened expression betraying the hardness in her voice. Eren smiled at her, and clapped a hand on her back as they reached the door of Eren's floor.

"I'll see you and Armin during orientation, alright?" he asked, his smile breaking into a grin.

Mikasa nodded, a small smile finally gracing her features. It was one of the true, genuine smiles that both Eren and Armin yearned to see on her face more often

"By the way," Eren added, his hand on the door handle to the 7th floor, "Did you know that my R.A. is an international wrestling champion?"

He savored the wide-eyed look of shock on Mikasa's face as he finally opened the door to re-enter the living hell he was now forced to call home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	3. Who Are These People Anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. I wish I did. But I don't. And that makes me sad...

**Chapter 3**

**Who Are These People Anyway?**

Jean hadn't been in the room since Eren had unpacked his stuff—the football player had gone out to dinner with his friends and Eren had made himself some quality top ramen, the king of college food—so he enjoyed what little bit of downtime he had before the first floor meeting (he certainly didn't spend it lying in bed and staring blankly at the ceiling). He glanced at his phone—6pm. The R.A. had gone door to door reminding everyone to meet in the hallway at 6 in order to do an icebreaker activity (groan).

Eren sighed, rising from the bed, and dragged himself out of the room into the hallway. Armin and Marco had already gone back to the 5th floor, so the only person he knew to keep him company was Connie. He found his friend standing near the elevator with someone who had dark brown hair and a shy expression on his face.

"This is Bertholdt," Connie said, gesturing towards the guy, "He's my roommate."

"Nice to meet you," said Eren, extending his hand. Bertholdt gave him a weird look, but shook it nonetheless.

"Bertholdt is kind of quiet," said Connie, and said roomate nodded in agreement.

Awkward.

At least he didn't have to be with Jean—

"Alright, Maria 7th floor! Everyone go find their roommate and pair up with them!" came Reiner's voice.

_Well, crap._

Eren located the football player, who glared at him and grunted. To Eren's satisfaction…uh, guilt, he was still holding an icepack to his swollen cheek. Everyone stood in a circle, with Reiner in the middle.

"Everybody here? Good! Okay, for those of you who still don't know me by now, my name is Reiner Braun—"

Gasps of shock as they recognized the wrestler—

"And I'm the R.A. of this floor. I'm a junior and a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering in the Trost School of Engineering, so you could say I know a bit about the academics of this school. How many people here are engineering majors?"

About six guys raised their hands.

"Cool, cool. Well, if you ever need any help with anything, don't hesitate to ask me. Now, as R.A. of the floor I have a certain responsibility to make sure you all are the most successful you can be for your first year at Kyojin University. You were all accepted here for a reason, not just because you got the grades in high school. There's a certain standard to this place that I don't want to see any of you guys drop below. To ensure this, I have a few rules in place to ensure—"

Groans from everyone on the floor—

" _To ensure that your experience here will be as positive as possible,_ " continued Reiner, a little bit louder. "There are only a few rules. First, no screwing around in the study room. People here actually want to learn, unlike the peers you might have had in high school. Second, I will not tolerate any sort of bullying, whether it's based on race, orientation, etc., etc. We're supposed to be beyond beating up people for no real reason."

A glance at Eren and Jean, who coughed and looked away from each other.

"My last rule might upset some of you, but it's the most important one. Keep drugs and drinking off the floor. I don't care what you do in your free time, but if I catch any of you drunk off your ass one night or smoking in your room, I will take action."

At this Jean gave an over-exaggerated groan. Reiner turned around and locked eyes with him with an intense glare.

"I have seen far too many people go over the edge due to drug and drinking problems," he said in a low voice, his gaze never wavering, "I've seen my own classmates give up their dreams and succumb to living on the streets, or selling their soul to the Military Police _because they had nowhere else to go._ You guys have a better chance than that; that's why you're in college."

Jean finally broke off his gaze, staring at the floor instead. He clenched his teeth.

 _Reiner is a really passionate guy,_ thought Eren in both fear and admiration. To his side he saw Connie looking at Reiner with an expression of pure admiration, hanging on to every last word. He had to remember that this was the guy who convinced Connie to go to school, and now he knew why.

"Moving on," continued the R.A., "Let's get to know each other, shall we? Please tell everyone your name, your major, where you're from, and something interesting about you."

The next 15 minutes passed by in a daze as the 40 people on the floor gave their obligatory introductions. Eren didn't pay attention, but he did catch the names of a few people he thought he might want to get to know: Bertholdt Hoover, the quiet guy, was actually something of a genius—majoring in Genetics with dreams of going to medical school. He also happened to be a childhood friend of the R.A. _—It'd be good to make a connection with him_ , thought Eren—and, to everyone's surprise, a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo. Then there was Thomas Wagner, a blonde guy who was a Civil Engineering major (Eren had been considering majoring in engineering and needed someone to talk to), and finally someone named Franz who was an Architecture major who also wanted to go into pre-law. His girlfriend, Hannah, had gone to Eren's high school, so he figured he might as well try to be friends with him.

He also learned a bit more about the people he already knew. Jean was majoring in Sports Medicine (of course, he had gotten in with a football scholarship), and Connie had decided to double major in Computer Science and Criminology ("Hey! I wanted to have options. I may have wanted to join the Military Police, Eren, but I'm not _stupid."_ )

After all of the introductions, Reiner dismissed everybody to bed ("If I find hair in the showers tomorrow morning for any reason, there  _will_ be hell to pay."), and reminded everyone to wake up by 8am the next morning for orientation.

As Eren lay in bed, unable to drown out Jean's snores, he thought about Mikasa and Armin. He wondered how they were doing, considered texting them, but gave up when he saw it was already past midnight.

So far he was a bit pessimistic about this whole college thing. His had already gotten into a fight with his roommate, and he had no clue what he wanted to study, much less what he wanted to do with his life.

_Just take it one step at a time._

His mother had used to say that all the time…

Eren grunted, rolled over, and shut his eyes.

* * *

_DON'T STOP BELIEVING!_

_HANG ON TO THAT FEELING!_

Eren bolted upright in his bed, heart racing as the rock music blasted through the small dorm room. To his left Jean groaned, groping around blindly for his phone. Eren let out the breath he had been holding and lay back down, trying to get just a few more minutes of—

_Ding!_

Shit.

_GOOD MOORRRRRNING, FRESHMAN! This is your orientation leader, Zoe Hanji! Remember me?_

"How could we not?" mumbled Jean, who had finally turned off his alarm.

_In a few minutes orientation activities will begin! Please make sure to meet your R.A.s downstairs in the lobby of your respective dorms. Please have a buddy to walk with you at all times as this campus is big and very easy to get lost in. You will have your first breakfast in the dining hall, and then…off to the campus tour! Also, make sure to stop by the gym to check out our super awesome Recon Fencing—_

_Hanji, you're not supposed to advertise on here!_ came another voice from the P.A. system, this time from a different female voice. There was some static and shuffling heard before the new voice continued,  _Please go downstairs to the lobby now to meet your R.A. That is all._

 _AND GOOOOOOO TITANS!_ Zoe's voice shouted from the background, before the P.A. system  _ding_ -ed again.

Jean and Eren glanced at each other, and then hastily got out of bed to prepare for the big day. A few minutes later they were cramped against each other in the elevator as everyone on the floor had decided to leave at the same time.

"I have a feeling we're going to have to start getting used to this," Connie's sleepy voice muttered from in front of him.

Breakfast in the dining hall was better than Eren had expected. There had been different stations for different meals (Eren had gotten an omelet and some bacon), and everything was buffet style. He spotted Armin sitting with Marco and eagerly waved to them.

"So Eren," Armin started once Eren had sat down, "Marco's the coolest guy ever! Do you know he plays guitar? And piano? And the violin? He's like some sort of musical prodigy! He even played some music for me last night!"

"I'm not that good," Marco said softly, but had a huge smile on his face. "What was your major, by the way?"

"Uh…I'm undeclared," replied the brunette, "I'm guessing you're a music major?"

"I wish," replied Marco as Armin quickly explained, "Kyojin actually doesn't have a music school here. What Marco's majoring in is…um…wait, what was it again Marco?"

"Economics," Marco replied. At Eren's shocked look he continued, "It wasn't my first choice of a major, but it made my parents happy. If I could I would do Literature instead."

"Why not both?" asked Armin.

"I guess that's a possibility…"

All three teens choked on their food as the all-too familiar  _Ding!_ of the P.A. system sounded once again. To their relief (somewhat), the second female voice calmly instructed them to finish up their meals and meet outside with their respective floors. Eren waved goodbye to Armin and Marco, briefly wondering why Mikasa hadn't joined them for breakfast, stepped outside, and promptly collided with a group of people. As he rubbed his arm he saw what everyone was gathered around.

A girl with glasses and long brown hair tied in a ponytail was standing on the backs of two football players, holding a giant megaphone. The somewhat crazed expression on her face made Eren uneasy.

"HELLO FRESHIES! Now you get to see the face behind the voice! I'm Zoe Hanji, and I'm your orientation leader! You're a lucky floor to get me…you'll  _never_  forget your freshman orientation experience after this. Now follow me, freshmen Titans! "

Eren and Connie looked at each other, and gulped as they prepared for an orientation of doom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, dunnnnn. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring for you guys! D: Trust me things will pick up and you'll be seeing more characters! In case anyone is wondering what Mikasa and Armin are majoring in, you'll find out in the next chapter.
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	4. Orientation: Freshman=Freshmeat

**Chapter 4**

**Orientation: Freshman=Freshmeat**

"Alright, Titans, our first stop brings us to the Shinganshina School of Arts and Sciences! This is the largest of the 7 schools at Kyojin University, and is home to over half of the majors offered here! As a student of the school myself, I can answer any questions you have! The school was founded…"

Eren zoned out as the hyper senior talked on and on about the school. Honestly, half of the information that Hanji was telling them about the university was stuff he already knew, since he had done his research far in advance before moving in. He remained in his half-listening, half-dozing state as Zoe Hanji ("Call me Hanji, by the way!") okay,  _Hanji_ led Eren's floor into the Shinganshina building.

What greeted them were frogs.

Hundreds of frogs.

_FROGS?!_

_"Ribbit!"_

Even Hanji looked at a loss for words as the 7th floor of Maria Hall tried to process what was going on. Suddenly, one of the frogs jumped onto Connie. He blanched, gingerly yanking it from his arm.

"Hey!" he said, dangling the frog from his fingers instead of dropping it, "Why is there a white stripe on its forehead?"

"NOOOOO!" someone shrieked. They all jumped as Hanji pushed through the boys to where Connie was, snatching the frog from his hands. She examined every centimeter of the frog, murmuring to herself with a horrified look on her face. Eren himself felt a frog jump onto his shoe and he yelped, trying to shake it off without hurting it.

"These frogs were supposed to be for my experiment!" their orientation leader howled, sinking to her knees and going Lion King on the defenseless amphibian, "I was trying to see if they could recognize themselves in the mirror if I put a white stripe on them! BUT NOW THEY ALL HAVE WHITE STRIPES! WHERE ARE MY CONTROL SPECIMENS!?"

"That's a fascinating idea!" exclaimed Bertholdt, whose voice was drowned out by Hanji's moans of horror.

"Uh, shouldn't we be worrying about the rest of the frogs too?!" shouted Jean angrily, who had three frogs climbing up his pants, but his words went unnoticed by the senior, whose expression had gone from horrified to  _bloodthirsty._

"I will find the people who did this and make sure  _I'm_ the one cutting up their carcasses when they die," she hissed as she stood up, frog in hand and surrounded by her ribbiting minions. Her glasses had caught the glare from the sunlight through the window, giving her the appearance of a mad scientist…heck, she  _was_ a mad scientist.

Snickers were heard from the staircase to their right, and they craned their heads just in time to see the backs of three heads running away. Hanji roared and hurled the frog into the air, beaning one of guys in the head. Hanji picked up another frog to throw, but was stopped by Reiner Braun's hand grabbing her wrist.

"Hanji, you can't just throw around animals like that!" he shouted.

"They're fine! I injected them with a serum I made that boosts their adrenaline levels and…huh? When did you get here, Reiner?" asked the biology major, blinking, dropping the frog.

"I was eating breakfast, but then you took my floor!" he exclaimed, "Hanji, you and I were supposed to do this together! It's an R.A. and an Orientation Leader giving them the tour, remember!?"

His voice shook with anger but Hanji seemed unfazed.

"It's not my fault you ate too slowly. Take it easy, Wrestler Boy," she responded, shrugging her shoulders. The freshmen stared at her, expecting Reiner to twist her neck right then and there. Instead, the R.A. sighed, scratching his head, to everyone's surprise.

"Alright, you win," he said, causing Hanji to grin, "Just don't use any of these guys for your experiments this time, okay?"

_This time?!_

"I can't make any promises!" Hanji sang.

" _Ribbit!"_

"And where did these frogs come from?!"

Eren sighed. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Hanji had decided to abandon the tour of the Shinganshina building until the frogs were taken care of (somehow), so she and Reiner took the boys to the Trost School of Engineering, the two bickering the whole way. Hanji made sure to enter first, going down the hallway and entering some of the lecture halls to check if they were clear. She gave the go-ahead, and everyone else entered warily.

"Alright! I'll let Reiner tell you guys about the place since he's in the school," said Hanji, beginning to lead them down one of the halls, and Reiner launched into a long explanation about the history of Trost—how it was named after the infamous city that was the first of many saved by humans during the old Titan Wars, and how a lot of the engineering students were working on the breaking-edge technology to enhance the 3-D Maneuver Gear that was currently being used by soldiers in the Military Police. At this point Eren started to pay more attention. He had always been interested in how the 3-D Maneuver Gear worked—what kind of training was needed to master all of the motor functions, what else he could do besides leaping from building to building, etc. etc.

Hanji then led everyone into one of the lecture halls so they could sit and watch one of the mandatory slideshows about the school. Eren sat between Jean (to his dismay) and Thomas Wagner, while Connie and the others sat one row behind them. Eren attempted to start a conversation with Thomas (so he wouldn't have to talk to Jean) while Hanji and Reiner set up the presentation.

"So uh…that was weird, with the frogs and all," Eren started, chuckling, and the blonde looked at him. To his relief he chuckled as well, answering, "Yeah, I didn't really expect those kinds of things to happen at this school…but here we are anyway! By the way, I'm Thomas…what was your name again?"

"Eren. So, was engineering your first major?"

"You know, not exactly. I originally wanted to join the police, but…say, your last name isn't Jaeger, is it?"

"Uh…it is?" answered Eren, confused. His confusion grew when Thomas eyes seemed to bug out of his head and he began bouncing around in his seat (Jean glanced over at this point).

"So  _you_  were the guy who made that infamous graduation speech!" Thomas finally burst out.

Eren was baffled. He had been chosen to give the graduation speech at his high school, but Thomas hadn't gone there…

"Wait, did you say infamous?" he asked.

"Yeah! Dude, you were on TV! They were talking about how amazing your speech was!" Eren could swear he saw Thomas' eyes sparkling as he spoke.

"I didn't know I was being filmed…I don't have a TV," Eren mumbled, embarrassed, but was unheard by Thomas as he continued with his rant.

"Eren, you inspired me to come here rather than just throw away my life joining the police without seeing what I could really do! I owe you everything, man. Just say the word and I'm there!"

Eren gaped at him. Jean huffed and returned his glare to the front of the room, where Reiner was trying to get everyone's attention.

"LISTEN UP!" he finally belted out, and everyone sat up straight in their seats and faced him. Thomas winked at Eren, who was still confused out of his mind.

"Here we have a presentation about the Trost School of Engineering, so pay attention," their R.A. said, pulling down a white projector screen.

Eren gasped.

Connie snickered.

Bertholdt and Thomas shook in their seats.

 _7_ _TH_ _FLOOR OF MARIA HALL, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!_ was scrawled on the white screen in red paint, accompanied by a picture of the school's mascot dripping red paint from scribbled on fangs. Reiner only had a second to mutter an expletive before the lights suddenly went out. Whispers of the frightened freshmen filled the room before a bone-chilling screech was heard from the ceiling. Eren's head snapped up to see what was going on, but he could only see a glint of metal before something swooped dangerously close to his head. He could hear Thomas' panicked shout from beside him, and a grunt of anger from Jean as everybody flailed around, trying to fend off their attackers.

"It's just a prank from the seniors!" Eren could hear Hanji call out, "They must have done the frogs too…they do this every year…I'm just sorry that our floor was chosen-!" and then her sentence turned into a squawk as she also was attacked by a black shape.

"ENOUGH!" Reiner roared from another side of the room, and then the lights suddenly turned back on. Eren heard a scuffle from beside him and saw Jean restraining one of the black shapes, which turned out to be someone dressed in all black wearing…

_3-D Maneuver Gear!_

"I think he's an Engineering student!" Jean said, trying to pull off the person's mask, which was a face of one of the Armoured Titan mascots for the football team. Reiner ran over and roughly yanked the mask off, revealing a head of white-blonde hair.

"LUKAS!" he bellowed as the blonde glared at him, "Students aren't allowed to use the 3-D Maneuver Gear outside of class!"

"Calm down, Reiner, we were just testing out an advancement we designed for ceiling use on the freshies," replied Lukas, who had a sneer on his face. From what Eren could see, Lukas was someone not much taller than him and had a stocky build. He had a pointy nose and a scar shaped like a "U" on his chin.

"And to think they made you captain of the football team," Hanji muttered before flinching when Lukas glared at her. Jean had taken a step back, to Eren's surprise.

"You know I really would love to stay and chat, but I have work to do!" Lukas exclaimed, suddenly headbutting Reiner in the stomach and causing him to gasp for air. He ran out of the lecture hall, shouting on his way out, "By the way, Oluo planned all of this! You haven't seen anything yet!"

"Oh dear…not Oluo," murmured Hanji once the football captain had left.

"Wh-what does that mean?" Bertholdt stuttered from behind Eren.

"It means," Reiner answered, letting out a sigh, "That we are in for one hell of a day."

* * *

Reiner wasn't lying. They had been pelted with water balloons filled with egg yolk at the Hermiha School of Business, been tricked into entering a maze (which was designed so that the only way to get out was to go through a tunnel that contained a trail of used condoms) at the Stohess School at Architecture, trapped within doorways that were covered with transparent tape at the Yalkell School at Law, and had slipped and slid down a floor covered with butter at the Chlorba School of Education.

Reiner was at his wits' end.

So was Hanji, who looked like she might snap (and/or murder somebody) at any second.

Bad news for the 7th floor of Maria Hall.

At last they arrived at the last school, the Karanese School of Medicine. However, a new type of surprise greeted them in the form of a short black-haired man holding up two guys who were trapped in a net.

"I caught them," the man deadpanned, not seeming to care that 40 freshman were all staring at him with their mouths wide open.

"Levi!" cried Hanji, "What are you doing here?"

"These numbskulls were setting some sort of trap for the new batch of shitty bra—freshmen," replied the shorter of the two (shorter of the whole group was more like it), "Unfortunately for these two, they forgot that Karanese is right next to the Fitness Center…I just happened to be the right person walking by at exactly the right time."

"Man, you sure held back!" exclaimed Reiner, chuckling as he walked up to Levi, "I can handle them from here, if you'd like."

"No, I'd like to ask them a question," said Levi, glaring at the students inside of the net, which he dropped to the ground. "Was Oluo in charge of this?"

"We aren't telling you anything, you-!"  _SMACK._ "Okay, okay, it was Oluo! He planned the whole thing!"

"That idiot," muttered Levi, brows furrowing, "I guess you'll have to deal with Erwin while I find him. Hanji, you have my permission to use these two for your experiments as you wish."

Ignoring Hanji's overjoyed cheer, Levi approached the group of freshmen.

"Oi, freshmen. You're required to join a sport at Kyojin, so check out fencing. The football team is full of shitheads anyway."

And then he walked off.

 _Well, that was weird,_ thought Eren, but he didn't have time to dwell on it as Hanji finally led them on a tour of a building that wasn't filled with frogs, flying football players, or a trail of condoms.

That evening, all of the freshmen from Maria Hall met together to celebrate their first full day at the university. Eren noticed Mikasa and ran over to her.

"How was orientation?" he wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Jean, who had mysteriously appeared in front of Eren.

"So you're Mikasa Ackerman, huh?" the football player asked, walking up to her and putting a hand on his hip. "The guys here have told me you're pretty smart—top of your class in high school and studying to be a doctor and all at Karanese. So brains and beauty, huh?"

Jean would have gone on if Mikasa hadn't chosen to drop-kick him and deliver a nicely-aimed punch to his gut at that point. Jean howled and sunk to the ground.

"You forgot 'exemplary fighter,'" Eren piped up.

Mikasa walked over to Eren gave him a quick, light hug. Jean sputtered as Armin and Marco ran over, noticing their friends.

"I heard you guys were the target of the upperclassmen this year," Mikasa said to Eren. "You sure look like it, too."

It was true. Eren was still dripping with egg yolk, arms and legs smeared with butter. Mikasa frowned and turned back towards Jean before Eren could say anything.

"Were you the one that hit Eren yesterday?"

"I don't know what you're talking-!"

_SMACK._

Jean now had a bruise on the other side of his face.

"Man, you're getting beat up pretty bad over there, aren't you?" chuckled Marco, who walked up and offered Jean a hand while Armin refused to move close. Jean flushed inexplicably but took Marco's hand nevertheless.

"Go easy on Jean, will you, Mikasa?" Marco asked Mikasa kindly, "He still has a few loose screws in there."

"Hey!" Jean exclaimed, but Marco simply smiled and dragged Jean away. Armin ran over to Mikasa and Eren once Jean had left. As Mikasa handed Eren a hankerchief she pulled from her pocket, Armin eagerly recounted his tour of Shinganshina (for he was a double major in both Neuroscience and History, both majors being offered at the Arts and Sciences school). Then the three of them followed the rest of the freshmen, where they encountered…

"FOOD TRUCKS!" a brown-haired girl who had appeared next to Mikasa gushed, tears in her eyes. Eren stared at the girl who now seemed to be drooling as they stood in front of the plethora of food trucks.

"She's my roommate, Sasha Blouse," explained Mikasa.

"Uh…"

"She…really likes food."

"Right."

Armin had a strange look on his face.

"So, what sports are you guys thinking of joining?" asked Eren once the three of them had gotten their meals and sat down away from the crowd (Sasha had gone to four different food trucks and eventually joined up with Ymir and Krista).

"I'll do whatever you do, Eren," Mikasa answered on auto-pilot.

"I wan to thoo shoccer!" exclaimed Armin, who was munching on a hamburger, "I heard ish a game fuwl of stwategy!"

"That'd be a good sport for you, Armin," Mikasa commented, giving the blonde a smile and causing Armin to choke.

"Eren, what do you want to do?" Armin had asked once Mikasa had thumped him on the back.

Eren thought back to his experience with Levi, and his seemingly random order to the freshmen.

"I want to do fencing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaannnnnddd there you have it! I hope it wasn't too long, but I felt a need to add more stuff since I took so long to update.
> 
> BTW, Lukas is an OC of mine. Fortunately (or unfortunately), you'll be seeing more of him in the future!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	5. Firsts, Firsts, Firsts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be interesting to you...a lot of what I'm writing is actually based on my own experiences as a freshman in college (obviously not as extreme though). For example, you're about to read a lot about fencing, which is what I do myself in college. So most of the info you read about fencing in this chapter is from what I personally know.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I mean, did you really expect a teenager to own any of this stuff?

**Chapter 5**

**Firsts, Firsts, Firsts**

The first week of college life presented the freshmen of Kyojin University with many firsts.

For Marco, it had been the first time he had been thrown into a fountain.

For Connie, it was the first time he had seen two girls kiss.

For Armin, it was the first time he had stood up to someone with the help of Mikasa or Eren.

For Mikasa, it was the first time she had ever had her ass handed back to her in a fight.

And for Eren…it had been the first time he had gotten a hard-on from someone who was  _definitely not_ Mikasa.

* * *

MONDAY

The day had started off relatively normal. Armin was gone when Marco had woken up (Armin had classes at 7am due to his rigorous course schedule), so Marco had a good hour to himself in order to get ready for the first day of class. He pulled a comb through short dark hair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, trying to remember the dream he had the night before.

Maybe playing some music would help. He wasn't really in the mood to work out his arms playing the violin, so he unpacked his guitar instead. Balancing the instrument on his lap, he lightly strummed the strings, making sure each one was perfectly in tune. Then he began to play, humming a simple song he used to sing to children at the daycare he volunteered at when he was in high school.

Ah…there it was. Now he remembered the dream.

He had been reading The Prince and the Pauper, one of his favourite books, sitting against the wall of an old cottage that had faced what in his mind appeared to be the ocean. Marco was from a district that was deep inland, so he had never been to a beach before. However the books he read were enough to supplement his imagination. He had been humming that very same song while he read.

Suddenly, a shadow had fallen over him, causing Marco to look up. There was a figure staring down at him, but its face had been blocked by the sunlight. Marco had squinted, trying to make it out…he could almost see the person's hair-!

_Knock, knock._ "Hey, Marco! You in there? W-wanna go to breakfast?"

Jean's voice had snapped Marco out of his trance. He put his guitar down and opened the door, revealing his only close friend at college so far. Jean looked a little uncomfortable as he swayed from foot to foot.

"What is it Jean?"

"Um…that song you were playing…it was nice," mumbled Jean.

Marco smiled.

After breakfast, Marco said goodbye to Jean and headed to his first class, Philosophy. He spotted one of the girls he had seen at orientation, Ymir, at sat down next to her. Ymir raised an eyebrow at him.

"Er...I hope you don't mind me sitting here," Marco started, "You were the only person I recognized, so I kind of…um…"

"Whatever," Ymir said gruffly, crossing her arms.

Okay. So Ymir wasn't a morning person.

Suddenly, shouting was heard from outside of the lecture hall, accompanied by sounds of a scruffle. A man with thick eyebrows and nicely-combed blonde hair burst through the door, papers flying from a partially opened briefcase clutched in his right hand. A red hand-shaped mark was on his left cheek, clearly visible in contrast to his light skin. He scrambled to the podium in the center of the room, set his suitcase on it, and slumped over the suitcase.

The entire room was silent.

After a few moments, the man raised his head and slowly rose to stand up straight.

"My apologies," he said calmly, "I'm afraid I was just involved in what you might call a 'lover's spat.'"

More silence.

"Moving on," the man continued, clearing his throat, "I am your Philosophy instructor, Erwin Smith. There is already another Professor Smith on campus so you may call me Professor Erwin. For those of you who are involved with fencing, I serve as one of the coaches. You will find that a lot of the faculty here are also involved in non-academic activities such as sports or student organizations."

While Professor Erwin went over classroom policies and what they would cover in future lectures, Marco found himself doodling a drawing of Jean in his notebook. He paid special attention to making sure the shape of his jaw was perfect. He felt someone's eyes on him and found Ymir staring at him.

"Um…what's up?" Marco asked quietly.

"Is that Jean?"

"Yeah…"

"You're a good artist," Ymir stated, then returned her focus on Professor Erwin. Marco breathed a small sigh of relief, thankful that Ymir didn't ask  _why_  he was drawing Jean.

The class went by in a flash, with Professor Erwin letting the students leave early since it was the first day. Overjoyed, Marco made his way over to a nice sitting area near the football field. The area contained a fountain (with a marble statue of the infamous Female Titan holding up two bowls from which water streamed from) and some cherry blossom trees. Instead of taking a seat on one of the fountains, Marco chose to sit against of the three surrounding marble walls, and pulled out another one of his favourite books, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

He had only gotten through five pages when a shadow fell over him. He glanced up, heart pounding, and to his dismay, recognized the captain of the football team, Lukas, along with three other big-built guys.

"Watcha got there, Shakespeare?" Lukas sneered, flipping his white-blonde fringe away from his forehead. The three guys behind him chuckled densely.

"Um…it's a classic," Marco mumbled, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. He didn't dare move.

"I certainly hope you don't intend to try out for the football team," Lukas continued, bending down slowly to take the book from Marco's hands, "We don't like to have our reputation tainted by fairies prancing around on our field."

"I wasn't intending to," Marco responded, voice shaking. He couldn't believe that these college students were still teasing him as if they were all in middle school. He made a feeble attempt to snatch the book away from Lukas, who quickly retracted his arm and  _tsk'_ ed.

"Ah, ah, ah, fairy boy," said the football captain, "The first rule of setting foot on turf near football territory is to never mess with the football team."

The three boys started moving forward.

"Let's teach this freshie a lesson, shall we?" sneered Lukas, the scar on his chin as prominent as ever.

The next five seconds went by in a blur. The next thing he knew, he was sprawled out in the fountain—he had been dumped in by those Three Stooges-his copy of the book in the water beside him along with all of his belongings.

"Let's not let this happen again," Lukas finished, crossing his arms, "Watch where you tread near football territory."

The four football players laughed and left the area, leaving a shell-shocked Marco to collect his thoughts and hold back burning tears.

* * *

TUESDAY

Connie hadn't meant to go to the party.

Really, he hadn't.

He and many other members of Maria Hall had received the same slip under their doors earlier in the morning (unbeknownst to Reiner, who probably would have burned the papers in an instant) inviting them to 'Titan Brawl' in Sina Hall. Connie had been studying for a quiz for one of his engineering classes when he got the slip.

He really should have just thrown it away.

Eight hours later after all of his classes had ended, Connie found himself dragging a very unwilling Bertholdt with him to the party- _my first college party,_  Connie thought as he bit back a grin—and proudly entering the infamous dorm chock-full of the students who probably bathed in money every day just because they could.

Connie soon found out that even though they were rich, the students of Sina Hall really knew how to party. Four illegal shots in, and most of the freshmen were sprawled out on couches and the floor. The music was as loud as ever, as were the upperclassmen who were better at holding their drinks and were currently dancing. Connie and Bertholdt had run into Ymir and Krista, and, seeing as all four of them had not yet had alcohol, decided to stick together for the remainder of the night.

"College parties are pretty crazy, huh?" murmured Bertholdt, tracing circles with his thumb on the floor.

"Don't ask me; it wasn't my choice to be here," Ymir snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at Krista, who giggled.

"I think it's kind of fun!" Connie exclaimed, "I just don't really know how…"

"To party?" a voiced laced with sarcasm answered. All four of them looked up to see Lukas, the football player who had ruined their orientation, sneering down at them and clutching a bottle of what looked like vodka in his hand.

"I can show you guys how to party," he said, making eye contact with each one of them.

"Go away, Lukas," shot back Ymir, glaring at him.

"Easy, sister," Lukas responded, "I'm only trying to make this fun for all of us. What did you plan to do here, anyway? Just sit around while everybody else is having the time of their lives?"

Bertholdt looked at the ground while Connie frowned. The football player did have a point.

"Just a few drinks, I promise," Lukas continued, noticing the slight change in heart from at least two of the underclassmen. He extended the arm holding the vodka bottle to Connie.

"Connie, don't take it," Bertholdt said softly, "You've never even had alcohol-!"

Too late. Connie took a swig from the bottle.

What happened next was almost a blur.

Almost.

Connie remembered Ymir standing up to punch Lukas, who easily dodged her and instead grabbed Krista by the arm, dragging the smaller blonde girl to her feet.

He could vaguely hear Ymir shouting, but that music was really starting to get loud—

His throat was burning, was that normal?—

Lukas bent down to kiss Krista, only to have the girl snatched from his arms by Ymir—

"Don't you dare!"

"Then why don't you do it, Ymir?"

You know, Lukas sometimes had really good ideas—

"What?!"

His ears were ringing; Bertholdt seemed to be shouting something angrily-

More shouting from Ymir, arguing, Krista pleading with Lukas, Ymir blushing, the lights were really bright, his palms were getting sweaty—

And then then Ymir and Krista were kissing.

Like,  _really_  kissing.

The shock was enough to snap Connie out of whatever daze he had entered Beside him Bertholdt's face had turned a lovely shade of pink as the two girls were kissing—no,  _making out_ —in front of them. Krista had her arms looped around Ymir's neck while the other was threading her fingers through the blonde's hair. Lukas was taking photos with his phone.

Wait, was that  _tongue?_

"Alright, alright, break it up!" shouted a girl with white hair and glasses. She shoved Lukas out of the way and pulled the two girls apart. "Lukas, what did I say about giving freshmen alcohol!?"

"Lay off, Rico. They wanted to party, so I gave them a party."

The other looked at the four freshmen. Ymir seemed to be in a daze, Krista's face was as red as a tomato; Bertholdt just seemed at a loss for words, and Connie was swaying on his feet, the vodka bottle beginning to slip from his hands.

Rico groaned, and adjusted the glasses on her face. She snatched the bottle from Connie's hands and steered Ymir and Krista towards Bertholdt.

"Whoever you are, take your friends home," Rico said to Bertholdt. "Where do you live?"

"M-Maria Hall," the other stammered, his eyes flitting to Connie who had now sunken to his knees and was giggling to himself.

"Tell Reiner Braun that Rico from Sina wants Lukas to be banned from entering the freshmen dorms," Rico said, ignoring protests from the football player, "And I'm sorry this DICKWAD got you all mixed up in this." At  _dickwad,_ Rico had planted one of her feet into Lukas' stomach, causing him to keel over and gasp.

Bertholdt felt his face heat up at the prospect of him having to talk to Reiner, but he nodded nevertheless, and starting guiding his friends towards the door to get out of this madness.

* * *

WEDNESDAY

"PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT, LADIES!" roared the coach of the soccer team, Keith Shadis. Armin gulped, and tried once again to bounce the soccer ball on his foot. Tryouts for the team were today, and while Armin was completely confident in the strategy of the game, he was completely clueless when it came to simple motor functions such as bouncing a ball on his foot.

Thomas Wagner, on the other hand, seemed to be a soccer pro. He easily bounced the ball from foot to foot, his steps nimble as he flawlessly alternated feet.

"You need help over there, Armin?" Thomas asked, winking. Armin shook his head vigorously, but lost balance of the ball in the process.

"ARLERT!" And suddenly Coach Shadis was looming over him. Armin blanched.

"Drop that ball again and you are dismissed from tryouts!"

"G-got it!" Armin stuttered. Beside him, Thomas snickered. Armin bit back tears, and resumed bouncing the ball on his foot.

Thomas, on the other hand, had another agenda. When Coach Shadis had turned to yell at another student, he suddenly kicked his ball into Armin's. Armin yelped, paling as he saw his ball roll away from him.

"ARLERT!"

"It wasn't me!" Armin protested, "Thomas-!"

But Thomas had somehow retrieved his ball and was bouncing it ball from foot to foot as if nothing had happened. Armin gave the coach a pleading look, but was only met with, "You will leave now."

There was no way he was going to argue with that authority. He turned and slowly began walking away from the field. He heard Thomas snicker again.

_No!_

For the first time in his life, Armin looked turned around to fight back.

"COACH SHADIS!" he burst out, marching up to the coach "Give me one chance—one chance to prove myself! I know the game really, well, I swear!"

"What makes you think I care-!"

"PLEASE! One chance…please…" Armin was tempted to sink to his knees, but kept his ground, never breaking eye contact with Coach Shadis.

Shadis recognized the look of determination in the blonde's eyes.

"Fine. One chance. You will play against one student.  _This_ student," Coach Shadis said, gesturing towards Thomas. "If you make a goal, I'll reconsider you for tryouts."

Armin gulped, but nodded.

5 minutes later and the rest of the students were sitting on the sidelines. Thomas and Armin faced each other as the coach held a soccer ball above their heads.

"Remember, whoever makes the goal stays for tryouts. GO!"

And with that, everything seemed to go in slow motion.

Thomas lunged towards the ball, easily kicking away from Armin.

Armin chased after Thomas, who was kicking the ball and running towards the goal.

Thomas suddenly made a motion like he was going to move to the right.

_No…he's going to feint!_

Armin's eyes narrowed.

Thomas feinted, but Armin was right there with him.

Armin closed in on Thomas and kicked the ball to his right. Thomas roared, but Armin had already taken possession of the ball.

He ran towards the goal, Thomas in tow.

He was getting closer, only a few more footlengths-!

Armin kicked the ball up, bounced it on his foot, and kicked it into the net.

Time sped up back to normal again.

The students were cheering, Coach Shadis had a bemused expression on his face, and Thomas was gaping at the goal. Armin was shaking with happiness. He walked over to Coach Shadis and looked at him expectantly.

"Well, um," the coach began, clearing his throat, "That was…impressive. Congratulations, you're back on."

_YES!_

Two exhausting hours later, the tryouts had ended. Armin was in the locker room changing, still grinning because of his victory. He was just beginning to button up his shirt when he felt a hand on his shoulder. By reflex, Armin flinched, but turned around and was met with a warm smile from Thomas.

"Congrats, Armin. You made the team."

The next thing Armin knew, he was on the ground and Thomas was bending over him, pressing a wet cloth to his forehead.

"W-what happened?" Armin stuttered.

"I think you passed out from happiness," Thomas said with a cheeky grin. "I forgot to tell you—the coach made us co-captains!"

"That's great!" Armin replied as Thomas helped him sit up. "Does…that make us friends now?"

"Of course!" Thomas gave Armin a small punch in the shoulder, and Armin laughed.

"Man, I can't wait to tell Eren!" he exclaimed. Thomas froze.

"Armin, do you mean Eren Jeager?"

"Um…yes?"

"THEN WE ARE GOING TO BE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!" Thomas roared, his eyes alight with the flames of…friendship. "Man, the three of us are gonna have so much fun, and we're gonna party together and do homework together and…"

Armin allowed himself to drown out Thomas' excited voice as he texted Eren and Mikasa the news that he had made it on the team, and, more importantly, made a new friend.

He could only smile more as he read the texts Eren and Mikasa sent back, repeatedly congratulating him on his success.

* * *

THURSDAY

"Congratulations Miss Ackerman, you scored the highest," Professor Eld Gin said, placing a paper on Mikasa's desk.

It was only four days into the school year and she had already taken her first test in her Introduction to Immunology class. Granted, Mikasa had already read half of the textbook by the time classes started—exemplary as ever—but she was still getting used to the massive workload that came with studying to be get into Medical School, even though she was only a freshman.

Mikasa only nodded as she looked at the tiny '100' written in red ink on the test. Beside her, a girl scoffed about Mikasa not thanking the professor. Fortunately or unfortunately, the girls in the class sort of had a thing for the Professor, who wasn't bad-looking, but apparently was attractive enough to make the girls (and a few guys) swoon each time he turned to face the class after writing on the blackboard.

"Alright, you're dismissed," Professor Gin said once he had finished passing out the rest of the tests, "Make sure to read chapters two and three for the next lecture."

Mikasa sighed, shouldering her bag and adjusting the scarf around her neck—there was so much work to do, not to mention that she had to run back to her dorm to get her books for next class, and hadn't she forgotten to eat breakfast—

"A word, Miss Ackerman?"

Mikasa blinked. She was the only one left in the lecture hall.

"Yes, Professor?" she responded in a monotone voice.

"The other professors here speak very highly of you," the professor said, "And word amongst the other students is that you are not only an exceptional student, but an exceptional athlete as well."

Silence from Mikasa.

"Miss Ackerman, might you consider joining the fencing club? I and a few of my colleagues are coaches, and we think you could even join the Recon Fencing Team if you were up to it."

"Oh! I definitely plan to join!" Mikasa suddenly exclaimed, her expression lighting up, "I was actually planning on going to the meeting tomorrow…" She trailed off, suddenly very conscious of how much emotion she was displaying in front of somebody she barely knew.

"Well, that's certainly good news to hear," Professor Gin replied, laughing, "Would you be opposed to me calling you Mikasa, then? I expect we're going to see each other much more often and I would be more comfortable addressing you on a first-name basis."

"But, Professor—"

"Is that okay, Miss Ackerman?"

Mikasa blinked again, but nodded, visibly relaxing.

"Excellent. Well, I certainly look forward to seeing your progress throughout the year, Mikasa."

"Thank you, Professor," Mikasa said, grabbing the last of her things and exiting the lecture hall.

_Bzzt!_

_Hey, can you believe that Armin made the soccer team? Good for him!_  -Eren

_I'm proud of hsdhff-_

"Hey, watch where you're going, shitty brat!" someone shouted, interrupting Mikasa mid-text as she slammed into someone. Her phone clattered to the floor of the hallway. Mikasa scrambled to the ground, intending to pick it up, but was stopped by someone's shoe.

Mikasa looked up very slowly.

A short man with black hair and a piercing glare stared back down at her. An empty coffee cup was in his hand…and a giant brown stain was soaking his  _very_  white dress shirt.

"You stained my shirt," the man deadpanned, unmoving.

"I'm very sorry," Mikasa said sincerely, still trying to reach her phone, but was stopped once again by the man's foot.

"You're going to have to clean this you know."

Mikasa was slowly losing her temper. She only had a few minutes to run to her room to get her books for her next class or she would be late.

"I'm really sorry again, but I don't have time to clean it right now. Please, I have to get to my next—"

" _This shirt is made of Egyptian cotton._ "

She  _really_  didn't have time for this.

"Just get over it!" she yelled, jumping up and trying to run around the man (who actually was significantly shorter than her). However, the man didn't intend to let her go so easily. He slid to the left, standing in front of her.

Mikasa glared, and tried once again, feinting to her right. Again she was stopped.

Alright. No more playing around.

She swiveled around on her feet, intending to drop-kick the runt, but was surprised when, for the first time, she was knocked to the ground when the man blocked her leg with his and pushed. Mikasa got over the shock and sprung to her feet, preparing for a fist fight. She threw carefully calculated punches, but was blocked each time.

"You know, I don't discriminate against girls," the man said, blocking her every move as he advanced forward, "And I must say you are an exemplary fighter. But not good enough—!"

At this, he lunged forward, bringing up his leg and easily tripping the other—

"To knock me over!"

Mikasa landed on the ground. Hard.

"LEVI! THAT'S MY STUDENT!" came Professor Gin's voice from around the corner of the hallway. The raven-haired man froze, and stepped backward as Professor Gin rounded the corner and reached the scene.

"She ruined my shirt," Levi said blankly, but was ignored as Professor Gin helped Mikasa to her feet.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked. When Mikasa shook her head he sighed.

"Levi, I know you are older than me and rank above me in the fencing room, but in here  _I_ am the professor and  _you_ are the student. And as a wise instructor, I can only say one thing: GIVE THE GIRL HER PHONE AND GET OVER THE STUPID SHIRT!"

"You're going to pay for that later!" Levi hissed, but nevertheless bent down to pick up Mikasa's phone and gave it to her.

"Sorry," he said bluntly, not looking at her and crossing his arms.

"Yeah, I hope so," Professor Gin said, "Mikasa here was planning to join the fencing club, and from what you probably saw, she's an excellent athlete. She's a brilliant student as well. I can only hope you didn't just make us lose a potential candidate for sabre!"

Levi finally looked at Mikasa like he was seeing her for the first time. His eyebrows actually rose.

"Well then,  _Mikasa_ ," he drawled out, snapping back to his usual expression, "I look forward to sparring with you in the future."

And with that he walked away, leaving an astonished Mikasa Ackerman in his wake.

* * *

FRIDAY

Eren was hopelessly confused.

Maybe it started when he awoke to find Jean moaning Marco's name in his sleep as the sheets ruffled in a manner which suggested that Jean was  _not_ dreaming about doing something innocent with Marco.

Or maybe it was when Connie had eagerly approached him the day before and recounted  _every single detail_ of what had happened at the 'Titan Brawl' party (which he had wanted to go to, but Mikasa gave him a gentle reminder that he had already missed his first day of homework and should catch up).

No. It definitely had to be what had happened just an hour before during the first meet of the fencing club.

_Earlier that day:_

Eren breathed a sigh of relief as his Calculus I professor dismissed the class for the evening. Eren was dismal when it came to math, and he didn't understand how he had placed into such a hard class, so he was struggling with understanding the concepts.

_Maybe I can ask Connie for help,_  he thought as he began walking towards the gym. Today was the first meeting of the fencing club, and, from what he had gathered from Mikasa, they would already start learning the basic movements that came with sparring. He waved eagerly as he spotted Mikasa walking over to him.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked as they both entered the gym. Mikasa nodded, and the two of them entered the designated fencing room.

Eren was only able to catch a glimpse of many people wearing white uniforms and black masks before somebody blocked his view.

"YAY, NEW SACRIFICES!"

Zoe Hanji's face was barely two centimeters from his own.

"Hanji, cut that out! We don't want to scare away any more people," sighed a girl who was standing behind her. The girl had neck-length straight orange hair and wide expressive eyes. She approached the two freshmen and extended her hand. "I'm Petra Ral, one of the officers for the fencing club."

"Nice to meet you," Eren said shaking her hand. Petra smiled and turned to Mikasa.

"Mikasa Ackerman, right?" she asked, extending her hand towards the black-haired girl. When Mikasa nodded, Petra smiled. "We look forward to having you here!"

"Alright everyone, take a seat!" Hanji called out. Eren and Mikasa quickly scampered to find a seat on the ground. To Eren's surprise, a lot of people from Maria Hall had come to the meeting: he quickly located Marco, Sasha, Ymir, Krista, Bertholdt, and Connie all sitting together. He didn't have much time to say hi before Petra, now wearing a fencing uniform, stood to face the new students. Beside her, Hanji was holding a box that seemed to be full of blades.

"Before I introduce everyone," Petra said, "I thought we'd start off with a bit of fun! Today we're going to introduce the three types of blades and what type of fighting comes with each of them."

Eren looked on eagerly as Petra pulled a blade from the first shelf.

"The first blade we have here is called the Foil blade," Petra began, "It's a light blade—" here she swiped the air with the blade to demonstrate—"and is the most common blade for beginners. When you fence foil, you are only allowed to target the torso, back, neck , and groin. You can only score by touching the tip of the blade to any of these areas—flat blades don't count."

Petra handed the blade to Hanji, and put on her mask.

"Now, Hanji and I will demonstrate how to fence using foil."

The two faced each other, then walked backwards to each side of the room.

"Right now we're standing on  _en garde_  lines," Petra explained as Hanji put on her own mask. "Our referee, Mike Zacharias, will start the match."

Petra and Hanji both saluted each other, before Mike Zacharias, a man with sand-coloured hair and a moustache shouted " _En garde!_ "

Petra and Hanji both lifted their blades and assumed what Eren guessed was a standard fencing position.

"Ready?" called Mike, " _Fence!"_

Petra moved forward, moving her feet in some sort of dance while Hanji assumed a defensive position. Suddenly Petra lunged forward, extending her arm, but was blocked from scoring a point when Hanji lifted her own blade. Petra retreated, using the same sort of footwork, but Hanji suddenly moved forward, lunging before Petra could react and touching the tip of her blade to Petra's stomach. Then they both retreated to their  _en garde_ lines. Petra lifted the mask from her face as the students clapped.

"That's the basic gist of it," she explained, "Foil matches can sometimes take a long time before anyone scores a point. There's also a concept called Right-Of-Way which regulates who gets the point when we score at the same time. Now, let's move on to the next blade."

Here, she grabbed a second blade from the box that Hanji was now holding.

"The second blade we use in fencing is called the _Épée._ The épée is a much heavier blade than the foil, and when fencing, the entire body is the target. Again, points can only be made with the tip of the blade." Then she signaled with her hand and two men entered the room in full fencing garb.

"Now we will have two of our épée coaches demonstrate a match," Petra said, handing each man a blade, "Here we have Eld Gin—" at this Mikasa smiled, to Eren's surprise, "—And Gunther Schultz."

The two assumed their positions and the second match began. The match was very similar to the foil one, except in this case Eld and Gunther moved a bit faster, eager to score a point. They seemed to be of equal level, attacking and quickly retreating over and over again to avoid hits. Finally, Eld and Gunther lunged, and scored at the same time—Eld had the tip of his blade on Gunther's neck while Gunther's tip was on Eld's leg.

"In the case of épée, the rules of right-of-way don't matter," explained Petra, "so in this case, they both scored a point."

The students clapped again as both men bowed.

"Now we move on to our third blade, the sabre," Petra said, "I normally wouldn't suggest using this blade as a beginner because it requires very advanced training, but two of our best sabre fencers left last year and we need new students to fill in the spots."

At this she glanced at Mikasa, before looking back to the other students.

"The sabre is a light blade that is used both for thrusting and cutting. You can only target the body above the waist, and, unlike foil or épée, you can score by using the tip and flat side of the blade."

At this Petra gave a hand signal again, and two other masked people walked up to her. One of them was tall and muscular while the other was significantly shorter and thinner. To Eren, it seemed like an uneven match.

"We will have our two best fencers demonstrate a sabre match," Petra said, handing each of them a blade, "And try to watch closely."

The two men assumed their positions and saluted.

_"En garde!"_

Their blades were lifted, fencing stances ready.

"Ready?  _Fence!"_

Okay. It was definitely an even match. The short guy was  _fast._  They both moved with flawless footwork, approaching and retreating. The shorter of the two seemed to be attacking and lunging with more determination than the others who had fenced, while the taller was trying to score a point, but forced to retreat each time.

The match was over in 10 seconds.

The shorter man had slashed his blade faster than anyone could blink, and the next second the taller had a cut on his uniform from where the shorter had cut it. However this time, they didn't retreat; they only seemed to be staring intensely at each other. Petra cleared her throat.

"Well, then, that's how it goes. Men, will you remove your masks?"

The taller removed his first, revealing white-blonde hair and thick eyebrows. To the left of Eren, Marco and Ymir were gaping.

It was Eren's turn to gape when the smaller man removed his mask.

It was the short guy with that  _glare_  who had single-handedly taken down two football players during orientation. Mikasa bristled next to him but Eren chose not to comment.

"Here we have Erwin Smith," Petra said, gesturing towards the blonde, "And Levi. Men, would you like to say anything to our new students before we move on?"

Erwin looked at Levi, who  _hmph'_ ed and crossed his arms.

"They haven't talked to each other since Monday," Hanji whispered to the other students and snickered. "I bet they got into a spat about Erwin accidentally dying Levi's shirts pink in the wash."

" _It was magenta_!" the two men suddenly shot back the same time. Levi shot a glare at Erwin, who cleared his throat and then faced everyone else.

"As many of you may have noticed during your first week here, fencing is a highly regarded sport here at Kyojin University. If you plan to join this club—or go even further and make it into the Recon Fencing Team, you're going to have to earn your place. Respect your blade, respect your teammates, and most of all, respect the art of fencing."

With that he bowed, and stepped back. An awkward silence filled the room until Levi finally decided to speak up.

"Newbies," he said curtly, "If you get one stain on  _any_  of our uniforms, you will pay."

Mikasa crossed her arms. Eren stared.

"Um, okay," said Petra, "I know you're all eager to start fencing already, but we have to start with the basics: footwook!"

The rest of the meeting was spent learning the complex process of footwork. Petra had each new member pair up with one of the fencers they had seen earlier. To Mikasa's delight, she was paired up with Eld Gin, while to Eren's dismay, he was paired up with Levi.

Levi was a lot worse than Eren had imagined.

"Oi, point your foot more!" Levi ordered as Eren tripped once again and landed flat on his face. Everyone was attempting to cross the room using the correct footwork. Once a step was taken the wrong way, they had to start all over from the back of the room.

"And remember to attack with your arm as you lunge, not after you lunge," Levi reminded Eren as he grumpily walked back to the beginning, "You lack form."

Eren bit back a retort and began again, concentrating on the floor and making sure his footsteps were the perfect length apart. So far, only Mikasa had been successful in crossing the room in one turn. Eld was now teaching her different attack moves. He felt a pang of jealousy rise up within him—he really wanted to try sabre, as he knew Mikasa would, and he wouldn't be able to even reach that level if he failed at even the most basic of fencing techniques.

"And lunge," Levi said quietly. Eren took a step forward and lunged, extending his right arm at the same time as Levi had told him so. He remained in the lunged position as Levi examined his stance.

"Hmmm…not bad for a shitty brat. Let me just adjust a few things."

As Levi began touching Eren's arm to angle it correctly, Eren felt blood inexplicably rise to his face. Despite being a short rude pain in the ass…Levi's touch was gentle. He couldn't help but think how small Levi's hand was has the black-haired man rotated Eren's wrist so that his hand mimicked holding a blade.

When Levi bent down to start working on Eren's legs, he jolted, losing his balance and falling over once again.

Heat rising in his face again, this time from embarrassment, Eren gingerly rose to his feet. To his dismay, he saw that he was the only one still doing footwork on the floor—everyone else was now picking out their blades and fencing uniforms. Mikasa had obviously chosen sabre, along with Bertholdt; Marco, Connie, and Sasha had chosen épée; Ymir and Krista had chosen foil. Levi seemed to notice Eren's desperation and sighed.

"What blade were you thinking of, idiot?"

"Sabre," Eren mumbled. He saw Levi's eyebrows raise just a fraction— _were his eyelashes always that long?_

"If you think you even have a  _chance_  at fencing sabre…" Levi began as Eren looked down the floor, all hope lost, "…You're going to have to improve your footwork."

_Huh?_

"You will start with foil, and take private footwork lessons from me. If you improve, I'll move you up to sabre."

Eren gaped, seeing Levi in a new light. That light was quickly diminished when Levi thumped him on the head.

"I don't care to know what you're gawking at. Go get a foil and fencing uniform and get your sorry ass back here."

Eren nodded and sauntered over to the area where the fencing gear was, definitely  _not_  thinking about how Levi's fencing uniform was tight enough to accent  _certain_  features.

Back in the present, Eren felt an all too familiar sensation burning below his abdomen.

_No. Way._

Eren looked down.

A hard-on greeted him in the form of tented pants. Before Eren had the chance to panic, Jean opened the door.

_This can't be happening._

The corners of Jean's mouth twitched.

_This semester is going to kill me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was worth the wait! As I mentioned in the last chapter, Lukas is an OC of mine-you're going to be seeing him a lot. I will do my best not to take forever to post the next chapter.
> 
> As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! :D
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay
> 
> P.S...I fence sabre ;)


	6. I Dream of Obsidian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Disclaimer: KnSnwot'nodI

**Chapter 6**

**I Dream of Obsidian**

Jean had laughed in Eren's face.

Looking back on it, he really should have been more mature about it instead of causing his fuming roommate to run out of the room whilst covering his crotch with both hands. But the deer-in-headlights look on Eren's face when Jean had walked in and seen Eren's little problem had made his day—no, his week. Even now as he was changing in the locker room for football practice, he could still see Eren's expression. He would definitely have to tell Marco about it sometime…

Marco.

Jean sighed ran a hand through his hair, putting down his shoulder pads. That boy was going to be the end of him, really. Ever since he had heard Marco playing music in his room Jean was having thoughts that he _shouldn't be having._ Combined with the embarrassing incident last week in which Marco had discovered Jean hiding in the fencing uniform closet while he was getting undressed (it wasn't like that! He only wanted to see how many freckles Marco had!), Jean was also dealing with a few problems down in the nether regions himself. He could only thank the gods that Eren hadn't noticed Jean moaning Marco's name in his sleep (as far as he knew, anyway).

 _It's only because he has black hair, it's only because he has black hair, just think of Mikasa…_ This was the mantra Jean had been repeating to himself all week. There was no way Marco should make him feel like this...it was just because he had the same black hair that Mikasa had—Jean didn't know a lot of black-haired people anyway. And to hell with it, Marco did have a few feminine features about him, right?

But Marco wasn't Mikasa…Marco was different. Whenever Jean thought of Marco, he thought of  _warmth._

Jean was pulled from his thoughts as a large hand clapped onto his shoulder. He froze, and turned around slowly to see Lukas behind him.

"You're late to practice, Jean," the blonde said, "And just because you're a sub doesn't mean you're allowed to skip out."

Jean clenched his mouth shut, holding back a retort. He couldn't forgive Lukas for making him a sub. Everybody knew of Jean's superior football-playing skills—heck, Jean had gotten into Kyojin University through a football scholarship, as his major was Sports Medicine-but Lukas, being the asshole he was, proudly proclaimed Jean's skills as utter shit during football tryouts and stuck him on the sidelines. Now Jean was required to play 10 games a semester to keep his scholarship. How was he supposed to play if he was stuck being a sub?!

The other players told Jean that Lukas was jealous and felt threatened, but nevertheless it was a major blow to Jean's pride.

"Oh, and, you might want to take care of that," Lukas continued with a frown, glancing down. Jean followed his gaze.

_You have GOT to be kidding me._

* * *

One month into the semester and Eren was already wishing it was December. While Armin and Mikasa breezed through their academics, Eren felt as if he was stuck in a permanent spiral of confusion—and it wasn't only his academics. Last week had been the start of labs for his Biology 101 class, which he had with Bertholdt. To Eren's utter shock, Hanji greeted him when he entered the lab.

"Hanji? What…um…do you…?" Eren sputtered.

"I'm the assistant for this class, silly!" Hanji exclaimed, rubbing Eren's head.

"But how? Aren't only graduate students allowed to help out with classes?"

At this Hanji scowled.

"Didn't you know, Eren?" Bertholdt piped, "Hanji is repeating her senior year! She was technically supposed to teach as a graduate student this year, but…"

"She burned down one of the labs, along with all of the professor's research," finished a silky female voice from right behind Eren, who let out a (very manly) squeal. He turned around and was met with a grin from a white-haired girl with glasses.

"You're not supposed to mention that, Rico!" Hanji snarled, pushing Eren out of the way to glare at Rico, who put up a hand and said, "Ah, ah, ah, Hanji. It's  _Professor_  Rico now, remember?"

"In your dreams!"

"Says the girl who put flammable goggles next to the professor's bird cage!"

"How was I supposed to know to know that canary was fire-breathing?"

 _Note to self: The science department can now make birds breathe fire_.

Hanji looked downright livid.

"Well, what are you waiting for!?" she suddenly snapped to Eren and Bertholdt, "Sit down!"

Eren and Bertholdt scrambled to their seats as Professor Rico walked to the front of the class, Hanji in tow. She quickly explained the instructions for the first lab and assigned lab partners—Eren and Bertholdt were matched up—with Hanji glaring daggers at her the whole time. Then Professor Rico left the students to do their labs while she and Hanji glared at each other once more.

"They're kind of like rivals," whispered Bertholdt as their staring match continued, "I heard that they were in the same grade last year, but Rico graduated and got into the graduate school while Hanji was forced to repeat." Bertholdt paused, taking a moment to mix together two powders in a beaker, then continued, "I don't think we're supposed to like Rico either, because she fences for the Garrison Fencing Team."

"Garrison?" Eren tilted his head as he emptied a beaker of water into a flask. Bertholdt nodded, adjusting his lab goggles.

"They're a combat fencing unit comprised of people who aspire to join the Military Police and work with 3-D Maneuver Gear," explained Bertholdt, helping Eren weigh the flask they had just filled, "But they also participate in the usual competitions—they usually scout for new members, though. That's why Reiner and Annie-!" And suddenly Bertholdt clapped his hand to his mouth, dropping the flask. Eren yelped and scrambled to catch it before it spilled whatever they were mixing everywhere. Once his mini-heart attack subsided, Eren looked back to Bertholdt.

"Reiner and Annie what?" he asked.

Bertholdt shook his head, eyes wide. Eren frowned.

"Did Reiner tell you all of this?"

Bertholdt's face inexplicably turned pink, then paled when Professor Rico slammed her hands onto the desk Eren and Bertholdt were working on, causing both of them to start.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" she roared. While the two freshmen trembled in their seats, Professor Rico walked back to Hanji saying, "I could get used to doing that."

After class, Eren immediately headed for the fitness center—today was supposed to be his first footwork lesson with Levi. Eren had to admit, he was more than a little bit nervous. After what had happened last time…

 _No!_  Eren's inner conscience reminded him,  _You were just having a stressful day that time. Your body overreacted. Plus, if you think about it, Levi kind of resembles Mikasa._

_Wait, what? But she's my sister!_

_Listen, stupid. You're mixing up your feelings for her with Levi. They both have black hair, right? They're both strong…determined…plus, Levi looks kind of girly if you ask me._

_But I'm you._

_Shut up, shitty brat._

_Great,_ Eren thought, approaching the door to the fencing room,  _Now my conscience sounds like him too._

"You push yourself too hard, you know," a soft voice from inside the fencing room said. Eren halted, his hand on the doorknob. There was no window on the door so he pressed his face against the crack adjacent to the wall to listen.

"I know you don't care but…I worry about you sometimes, "the voice continued, "You can't do everything in the world, Levi…"

_Levi?_

"I just wish you could hear me now…"

Curiosity getting the better of him, Eren slowly opened the door. However, he froze in his tracks, heart leaping into his throat as he viewed the scene in front of him.

Erwin was sitting in the middle of the floor in his fencing uniform. On his lap lay Levi's head, face drowned in sleep. Erwin was slowly running his fingers through the captain's hair, his expression one of pure endearment. Not wanting to disturb the intimate scene, Eren backed away and closed the door as quietly as he could.

He practically ran to the locker room. Once inside and sure that he was alone, he leaned against the wall for support, heart pounding and thoughts spinning.

_Shit shit shit shit…I wasn't supposed to see that._

He put a hand to his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. Levi had looked so defenseless, so utterly peaceful, and the way Erwin was looking down at him…it was the purest form of love Eren had encountered in a long time.

_You wish you could have that with Mikasa, don't you…_

_It's not like that…Mikasa is different; her circumstances are different._

_But don't you want that sort of relationship with her? You care for her, don't you?_

"But I could never think of her in that way," Eren said softly, closing his eyes. The realization was hard enough. Sure, he had loved Mikasa unconditionally as a child when his family had first taken her in—how could he not? But they were only 9 at the time, and no need to categorize the love they had for each other. Why did it suddenly have to be so complicated now?

_Bzzt!_

_Hey brat, you're 3 minutes late. You owe me coffee. –Levi_

Eren had to slam his foot against the wall to prevent himself from sliding down the wall.

_How did he…wasn't he…_

His hands shook as he quickly put on his uniform. Helmet in hand, he sauntered back over to the fencing studio. Then, taking a deep breath, he opened the door once again. To his surprise, Levi was standing there—alone—all suited up and wide awake. His right foot was tapping impatiently against the ground.

"What took you so long?" the captain huffed.

"I-you—uh…how did you get my phone number?" the freshman quipped back.

"Petra collected everyone's contact data when you first signed up for the club," Levi answered rolling his eyes, "Or were you too busy staring at the ceiling like an idiot?"

"That's not-!" Eren started but stopped when Levi lifted his blade to rest the tip on Eren's shoulder where a minuscule speck of dirt stood out from the white uniform.

"Dirty," he murmured, eyes scrutinizing the freshman, "Over here too—" at this he moved the blade to rest on Eren's arm, "And here." Finally, in the center of his chest. Suddenly Levi pulled back his blade and lunged forward. Eren, not expecting this move at all, yelped and fell backwards, landing on his back. He hissed in pain, moving to get up, but felt something pressing him down.

Levi was standing over him, blade tip on his chest once more.

"I said not get the uniforms dirty," Levi said in a low voice, eyes wide and unblinking, "Didn't you hear me on the first day? Idiot."

He glared down at Eren.

"You didn't even retreat correctly. Didn't we already go over the footwork?"

Stunned silence from the freshman.

Levi suddenly groaned as if he were in pain, putting his other hand to his face. He seemed to slump slightly where he stood.

"L-Levi?" Eren stuttered from the floor, "Are you oka—"

 _"Don't talk,_ " the captain hissed, putting pressure on the blade for emphasis. After a moment, Levi sighed, finally lifting his blade.

"You're giving me a headache, brat," Levi mumbled, helping Eren to his feet.

"I'm sorry!" Eren said, still panicked, "I'll work hard, I promise."

"You'd better," Levi warned. "Let's start from the basic exercises, then…"

The next half hour was spent going over the basics. Levi had Eren assume the proper fencing pose, making little reminders here and there about remembering to keep the knees bent and the shoulders relaxed. Then they started working on footwork. Levi had Eren copy his movements, then had him execute them on his own.

"Good, good," Levi said as Eren traversed the length of the room using the techniques Levi had taught them, "Don't forget to keep your arm stiff—pretend that you're holding the foil!"

Eren nodded, concentrating on keeping his feet moving in a straight line. When he returned to where he started, Levi had in stand in place once more and made some slight adjustments. Once again, Eren was forced to go through the agony of feeling Levi's hands on his arms and legs.

"What's with you? You're shaking," Levi noted as he pulled Eren's arm out slightly.

"It's nothing…just a little tired," Eren gasped, feeling a bead of sweat making its way down the side of his neck. Now that Levi was up close, Eren could map out every little detail of his face—it was practically flawless, not a blemish to be found. And to his surprise, he found that his eyes weren't dark grey like Mikasa's—if you looked hard enough, they were a startling shade of blue. If Eren looked at the right angle, they could even gleam— _you're going a little too far, Eren._

"Okay, we're going to try something else," Levi said, stepping back and walking to the fencing closet, "Don't move."

So Eren was forced to ignore his screaming knees and watch Levi pull out two cardboard rods.

"These are going to be our pretend foils," Levi explained, tossing one to Eren, "I'm going to stand opposite to you, as if we're having a match. Don't lunge or anything, just try to make sure I don't land any touches on you."

Eren nodded. Levi then faced Eren and assumed position.

What followed almost seemed like a dance.

Levi began to approach Eren, his steps light and perfectly placed. Eren began to back up, trying to keep track of what direction he feet were facing. Levi began to pick up the pace, approaching Eren quickly as the other fought to keep his movements in control and catch up to speed. Then the captain quickly retreated, his eyes locked with Eren's. Eren gasped and began to advance forward, finally starting to get in the groove of the movements. They continued like this for several minutes, never breaking eye contact, trapped in a linear dance. Finally, Levi lunged forward unexpectedly, and for a moment, Eren could only see those striking blue eyes and nothing else Then it was over as Eren tripped over his feet, landing on his butt once again and dropping his pretend foil. Unfortunately, Levi didn't seem to calculate just how badly Eren would stumble, and landed on top of him.

"Oof!" Eren gasped as his body supported the full weight of the captain—he was surprisingly heavy given his slim figure. He twitched, face rapidly heating up when Levi exhaled slowly into his neck before gingerly pushing himself up, hands on Eren's chest.

For a split second, the two locked eyes again. Eren lay there transfixed, unable to tear his gaze away from Levi's piercing blue eyes. Levi seemed to be shocked himself as he hastily scrambled—yes,  _scrambled_  to get himself off of the freshman.

"Not…not bad," Levi said, clearing his throat as Eren slowly lifted himself to his feet. Eren looked down at the captain and his breath momentarily stopped. Levi looked perfect—his hair was ever-so-slightly messed up from his movements, his forehead and tips of his hair spotted with little droplets of sweat. His eyes had lit up with something Eren couldn't put his finger on, but it made Levi look like a completely different person.

"Oi, you're gawking again," Levi snapped, his stony façade quickly snapping back into place. Eren shook his head and picked up his pretend foil, which he handed to the captain.

"We'll start with these next week," Levi said, "Now come with me. You're buying me coffee."

* * *

_Are you still awake? –Marco_

Yeah. Studying for an anatomy quiz –Jean

_Sounds hard. What's your major again?_

Sports Medicine

_Oh yea. Am I bothering you?_

_Jean?_

No you're fine

_Oh good lol Can I tell you something?_

Gimme a min

Okay

Hello

Helllllooooo

_Never mind, ill tell u l8tr sorry g2gbye_

Marco shoved the phone underneath his pillow, heart pounding. He had almost done it—he had almost told Jean everything.

So what was stopping him?

He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. Surely Jean would know something was up now—Marco never used text language unless he was in a hurry. Gosh, why did he always have to chicken out on these things?!

"Hey Marco, are you okay?" called Armin's sleepy voice from underneath him. Marco leaned over the edge of the bunk bed to see his roommate opening one eye to look at him.

"I'm fine Armin. Sorry for worrying you!" Marco answered, putting on a smile. Armin nodded, still bleary, and went back to sleep. Marco then plopped back down onto his pillow, ignoring the vibrations of however many texts Jean was sending him. He blushed, remembering the feel of Jean's hands on his arms and back when he counted his freckles a few weeks before.

But then he remembered Lukas, and how he had been treated.

_I can't tell him._

Jean would get hurt, wouldn't he? Especially if he was on the football team!

_But I want to so badly._

Marco shut his eyes, fighting back tears and trying to block out the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Jean was frantically sending text after text asking if Marco was okay, his anatomy textbook and notes abandoned on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! Things will pick up in the next chapter. :3
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	7. Jitters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own these beautiful fictional men

**Chapter 7**

**Jitters**

September transitioned into October before any of the freshmen of Kyojin University could blink. Classes suddenly became exponentially more challenging, deadlines for papers loomed closer and closer, and any hopes of maintaining a regular sleeping pattern were lost.

And of course: October brought the start of midterms.

Going out on the weekends turned into pulling all-nighters for Monday exams; a bagel and omelette for the morning were turned into two cups of coffee for the entire day; spending money on hanging out at the mall turned into spending money for textbooks that were at first thought to be unnecessary for the semester (but in reality were needed the whole time).

But one thing was keeping the university students sane—one thing that could save them from the utter madness of being a full-time college student.

And that was the start of the football season.

Yes, football was the sport that brought the students, whether undergraduate or doctoral, international or local, doctor or artist, all to one stadium where their only job was to scream at the top of their lungs to support their team (or hurl insults at the opposing team; either was acceptable). Football was where the Titans took to the field and crushed their enemies—after all, the university was named after the species that had almost crushed humanity hundreds of years ago. Football was when the jocks who were failing their math classes turned into superstars on the field, the games being broadcast to every home in the country.

And football was how Marco found himself nearly crushed within a horde of mostly drunk crazy college students as he tried to make his way towards the locker room of the university football stadium to apologize to Jean.

For the last two weeks, Marco had been completely avoiding Jean after he had woken up and seen 46 unopened texts from him asking if he was okay. Marco had slapped himself for not being brave to text back that stressful night, and was ridden with guilt in the days following the incident. Unfortunately, he didn't have to try very hard to avoid Jean—they were already in completely different major programs, so they didn't have any classes together to being with. Days quickly turned into weeks, leaving Marco stuck in a miserable slump after each day of not talking to Jean while trying to muster up the courage to approach the football player and apologize, but backing out at the last minute.

However, he had timidly approached Eren a few days before, asking how Jean was doing. Eren seemed confused at first but didn't pry, informing Marco that Jean was either gone for football practice, or up all night studying for midterms.

"But it seems like something else is bothering him," Eren mentioned right before Marco gave up hope, "I mean, he just seems more on edge than usual. Did something happen?"

Marco had stammered a quick response before dashing away. He  _had_  worried Jean! There was no way he couldn't apologize now—he didn't want Jean to be stressed before the big game just because of him!

Gasping, Marco finally escaped the crowd and entered the locker room. Maneuvering around a big burly football player, he scanned the room as quickly as he could—he definitely wasn't allowed to be in here, but he had to apologize before the kickoff. He nearly cried in relief when he found Jean sitting on a bench near the back, all suited up in his football uniform.

Marco took a deep breath, heart racing.

"J-Jean?"

No answer. Jean was staring at the floor.

"Jean?"

Again, no response. Was Jean ignoring him?

No. He had to keep trying.

"Jean?" he asked one more time, this time placing a hand on the football player's shoulder. Jean started, eyes widening as he faced his attacker.

"Marco!?" Jean spluttered, incredulous, "I haven't seen you in weeks! What are you doing here?"

 _He wasn't ignoring me!_ Marco cried internally, and continued, "I just…I wanted to…"

Oh, no. He could feel an all-too familiar pressure building up behind his eyes.

_I have to do this!_

"I wanted to say I'm sorry!" he finally burst out, clenching his eyes shut. And then the words spilled from his lips before he could control himself: "I am so sorry Jean I should have texted you back but I was just worried and stressed out and I just wasn't ready to tell you I was okay the whole time I should have told you I am so sorry for avoiding you Ididn'tmeantooIwasjusttoomuchofoacowardtoapologize andnowyou'reabouttoplayand-!"

"Marco!" Jean exclaimed, standing up and putting his hands on the taller one's shoulders, "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"What?" Marco responded, slightly out of breath from his rant.

Jean sighed, releasing one hand from the other's shoulder to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Marco, I admit you had me worried for a while when you started avoiding me. But if this was eating at you the whole time…it's my fault for sounding so panicked over the phone; I just overreacted. As long as you're okay, there's nothing else to talk about. And I'm not even playing the game anyway, as far as I know."

"What do you mean? You're the best football player I know!" Marco said, eyebrows furrowing, "You're supposed to be on TV and everything!"

"Yeah, but our stupid captain thinks I'm shit, apparently," Jean muttered, clenching his jaw, "He's not letting me play unless someone gets seriously hurt." Jean wasn't showing it, but Marco could see clearly just how upset this was making him. He wasn't even allowed to play the game that got him into college in the first place!

"And I'm starting to think that maybe he's right," Jean continued, his tone growing darker, "I haven't played as well I used to in high school, and everyone treats me like I'm some dumb jock. I'm not like the other guys…"  _In more ways than one,_ Jean thought as he trailed off, before taking another breath.

"Maybe I'm not cut out for sports after all.' There, he said it: the one thing that had been eating him up since the end of high school. He lowered his gaze to the floor. "I'm just not strong enough to admit it to myself."

Marco gently removed Jean's hand from his shoulder, raising the shorter man's chin to look him straight in the eye.

"That's bullshit," he said sternly. Jean gaped—that was the first time he had ever heard Marco curse.

"M-Marco…"

"You're not worthless, first of all," Marco lectured, never breaking eye contact, "And you're more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Eren told me that you've been studying like crazy for midterms. And you might not be the best football player on the field, but you were damn good enough to get into this school. Anyone who tells you otherwise needs to get their head checked."

Marco smiled warmly down at Jean, who seemed to be in awe.

"You don't have to be strong to know what's right," Marco finished, "And I'd take a smart person over a strong person any day."

Without thinking he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Jean's cheek. Jean froze, blood rushing to his face.

When he felt Jean tense up, Marco crashed back into reality, wrenching himself away from Jean and backing away slowly.

"Oh my gosh…I'm so…I'm sorry Jean," he rasped, throat as dry as sandpaper, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"That's…that's okay," Jean said numbly, eyes wide. The locker room had emptied a long time ago. In the distance the screams of football fans could be heard, followed by the announcement of the kickoff from a megaphone. The game had started.

"Um…I'd better go…I don't want to get caught being the locker room without permission, you know?" Marco laughed awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that his voice had risen several octaves, "I'll—I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Jean said, still in shock as Marco quickly fled from the room.

What both freshmen had failed to notice was the person who had watched the whole scene from behind one of the lockers. Lips cracked open in a malicious grin.

_Perfect._

* * *

Midterms were nothing short of a trip to hell and back for Eren. He thought he had been bad at math, but English was something else. Maybe it was because he had never had good English teachers in high school-but whatever it was, whenever Eren was presented with the task of writing an essay his mind went blank and strange words somehow appeared on the paper, just like they were right now.

He sighed, looking gloomily at the prompt. He had decided to lock himself up in the library in order to finish a 10 page paper that was due in two days—worst mistake of his life.

_Analyze the reading from the textbook about the Great Titan Wars, and take a stance on the Military Police's decision to capture and keep hidden the two Abberant Tit—_

Eren slammed his computer shut, unable to concentrate anymore. He glanced at his watch—4:00. The fencing studio should still be open. Even though it wasn't time for his footwork lesson with Levi, he could still warm up beforehand.

New determination fueling his resolve, Eren left the library and headed towards the fitness center. If he wasn't able to focus on an essay, maybe he could at least impress Levi with all of the practicing he had been doing over the past week. In his lessons Levi had been practicing sparring with him more often, so they were now combining footwork with offensive and defensive moves. In regular fencing club the others had advanced to mini-spars with the actual blades (Mikasa had scored 3 points in a row against Bertholdt, who was surprisingly an excellent fencer), but Levi still refused to let Eren spar with anyone until his footwork was perfect.

Eren had grown increasingly curious about the captain of the fencing team. Ever since he had walked in on Erwin talking to Levi as the other slept, Eren couldn't help but wonder about their relationship in general. What exactly was Levi to Erwin?

(and why did he suddenly feel so jealous?)

Eren asked Hanji about the two the other day. After his lab (in which he accidentally created a small explosion in his test tube, earning a scolding from Professor Rico and thunderous applause from Hanji), he had nervously approached the senior who was cleaning lab materials that had been used during the class.

"What's up Eren?" Hanji asked when she noticed him, then held in a snort of laughter and grinned when she saw Professor Rico trip over a ruler that was (conveniently) placed right in her path.

"Hanji…do you mind if I ask you something about Le—the captain?"

"Oooooh, want to get the inside scoop on Levi do you?" Hanji had responded, her eyes lighting up, "Then ask away! I know all of his deepest darkest secrets, oh yes, he made me swear not to tell anyone but I'll make an exception for you!"

"Ah…no, that's okay," Eren responded, sweat-dropping, "I was just wondering if you could tell me about him and Professor Erwin."

Hanji stilled, her hands halting in the middle of cleaning a glass beaker.

"What do you mean, Eren?" the senior asked, lowering her head so light from the window reflected off of her glasses, hiding her expression.

"I don't…I don't know really how put it…are they…together?"

Hanji sighed, setting down the beaker and raising her head to look at Eren. Gone was the glint in her eyes and her usual smile, leaving behind a small frown and stern expression.

"Oh, Eren…I could tell you anything else, I could, but I can't tell you about that," Hanji said seriously, "Believe me, I wish I could tell you, but it's just not my place to reveal things that are better left locked away."

_Why did she sound so sad?_

"I understand," Eren said, slumping, "I'm sorry for prying."

"It's no problem at all!" Hanji said worriedly, waving her hands, "It's okay to be curious. But please don't ask me again…it's too much of a personal matter for both of them. And let's keep this conversation between just the two of us, okay?"

When Eren nodded, Hanji's attitude made a complete 180.

"Well goodie!" the biology major exclaimed, grin lighting up her face once more, "Then can I ask you a question in return? Would you be willing to be a willing participant in an experiment I'm conducting?"

At that point Eren had quickly excused himself from the lab, leaving before he was turned into a test subject, but Hanji's words stuck in his head for the next few days. What was so bad or embarrassing that even Hanji wouldn't reveal it? It was just all too confusing.

Pushing these thoughts out of his head, Eren entered the fitness center and immediately headed towards the lockers to get changed into his fencing gear. Once he opened the door to the locker room, though, he was nearly decapitated by a fencing glove flying towards his face. He quickly ducked, the glove narrowly missing him, and dove behind the nearest locker.

When nobody came to attack him, Eren cautiously peeked around the corner. To his surprise again, Levi and Erwin stood in the center of the room, Erwin's back facing the freshman and Levi standing across from the blonde. It looked like Levi had been the one who had thrown the glove—his expression showed nothing but barely-controlled anger, as indicated by the shaking of his fists. Eren quietly maneuvered himself so that he was hidden from the two, but listened from behind the locker. The two were silent for a moment—to Eren's relief, neither of them had noticed him.

"Levi…I can't do this anymore," Erwin said, finally breaking the silence—from what Eren could hear, Erwin was trying his best to keep his voice even. Across the blonde, Levi had frozen, eyes now trained on the ground so that his hair hid his expression. He didn't utter a word. Erwin fidgeted, but continued.

"This whole business with your past…and what more with what Reiner and Annie have been doing…you know it's dangerous if you're seen with me…especially with all that's been going on recently. I can't risk you getting hurt anymore."

Silence.

"What I'm saying is that…we need to end this…it's for your protection."

"You're lying," Levi hissed, finally raising his head. Surprisingly, his trade-mark glare had snapped back into place—but it was breaking. Even Eren could see the slight trembling of his eyebrows. Erwin seemed to notice it too, as he hastily tried to comfort the other by placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" Levi hissed, shoving Erwin with both hands. He was trembling now, jaw clenched as he tried to keep his emotions in check. Erwin seemed to droop where he stood, but said nothing.

"We've run into these problems before, and you've always stuck by my side. I've stuck by yours too! And you of all people should know that I'm not the person I was before—I can protect myself. No matter what the risk was, you were always willing to put up with it, and things turned out fine. This is different…it's someone else, isn't it?" Levi asked meekly. Eren's heart stopped—he had never heard the captain's voice sound so small before. Erwin nodded and at that moment, Levi seemed to break. It wasn't obvious, like someone suddenly falling to the ground and wailing their eyes out, or getting angry and throwing a tantrum. No, it had looked as if something had snapped within Levi, leaving him devoid of the strong front he usually put up. But the fight hadn't completely left him, as indicated by his trembling jaw.

"Who is it?"

"That's not important."

"You had better fucking tell me!" Now his hands were shaking. Erwin sighed in defeat.

"It's Petra," he said quietly. Eren had to clap a hand to his mouth to prevent the sound of shock that nearly escaped him. Levi looked incredulous.

"I'm sorry," Erwin finished before Levi had a chance to open his mouth, and turned on his heel to walk away. Eren flattened himself against the locker as the blonde passed him—luckily he hadn't been noticed. He waited for the blonde's footsteps to fade before he dared to look around the corner again just in time to see Levi lose control.

 _"Damn him!"_  the raven-haired man exploded, kicking the object nearest to him—which happened to be a concrete wall. His eyes widened, a small sound of pain escaping him as he promptly collapsed onto the ground.

"Levi!" Eren, not being able to stand anymore, ran towards the captain who was clutching his leg.

"What are you  _doing_  here, brat?" the other asked sharply, struggling to regain his composure. Eren didn't respond, only helping the captain sit up. Levi winced as his leg was shifted in the process, breaking the mask.

"We need to get you to the infirmary," Eren said quickly in order to avoid talking about the events had just transpired, "Here, put your arm—"

"What did you hear?" Levi asked quietly, slapping away Eren's hand.

"N-nothing…"

 _"Bullshit_. Answer me before I use my other foot: What. Did. You. Hear."

Eren sighed, finally giving in.

"Enough," he simply said. Levi groaned and hung his head.

"Forget what you heard," he said, "It was nothing."

At this, Eren's anger flared.

"You can't just ignore what just happened!" he burst out, "He obviously hurt you! You can't tell me you didn't feel  _something!"_

"It doesn't matter what I feel!" Levi snapped back, glaring at Eren, "And it's none of your business, shitty brat!"

"I'm  _making_  it my business whether you like it or not!" Eren shouted, finally past his breaking point and throwing away all hopes of calming down. Below him Levi's eyes had widened considerably.

"Levi…what exactly was Erwin to you?" Eren asked in a deep tone, his voice shaking, "He was more than a friend, right? Was he your boy—!"

"DON'T say it," the other hissed. Levi's eyes were clenched shut, his jaw trembling. Eren breathed out slowly, using the rest of his strength to heave Levi up and wrap an arm around the captain to support his weight on his shoulder. Surprisingly, Levi didn't try to escape from his hold, and instead adjusted his position so that he could lean on Eren more freely. Even so, he was still in a lot of pain, indicated by the sweat that had just broken out on his forehead.

"What's the best way to get to the infirmary from here?" Eren asked gently, fully aware that standing was putting more pressure and pain on the captain than what Levi was showing.

"Not…not going there," Levi rasped as he clutched tightly onto Eren, fingernails sinking into his shoulder as they both started walking towards the door.

"What do you mean? Of course you have to go there!"

"I said no."

"Why?"

Eren mentally slapped himself when Levi didn't respond, remembering what Hanji had said. There were obviously some things that Levi wanted to keep hidden beside his relationship with Erwin.

"Forget it," Eren said sternly, noticing Levi relax minutely in his grip, "I think Mikasa might be able to help. She used to patch me up all the time."

"Heh…I'm not so sure she'll be willing to help me," Levi chuckled darkly, causing Eren's eyebrows to raise— _since when does Levi laugh?_  "We're not exactly on the best of terms since we first met."

"Oh come now," Eren chided as the two exited the fitness center, "It can't be that bad."

"She thought she could win in a fight against me."

"Levi,  _don't_ tell me you beat her. I'll drop you."

"I'm not saying anything, idiot," Levi said slyly, telling Eren to slow down so he could limp without tripping, "Now take me over there, to the left by the Karanese building. We can take the bus to my apartment."

Eren nodded, and the two took a moment to rest once they reached the building. An awkward silence passed as they both waited for the bus, a slight breeze picking up and lifting a spiral of red and golden autumn leaves into the air.

"Hey, Eren?" Levi asked quietly, leaning on Eren once more as the bus approached them.

"What?"

"Don't ever speak of this to anyone." His head was hung low again, dark obsidian locks hiding his expression. Eren couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in his voice.

"Don't worry," Eren mumbled in return once the doors opened. He helped Levi up the steps. "Some things are better left locked away for a while, right?"

He didn't miss the small upturn of Levi's lips as the bus doors closed behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Please comment if you can; comments motivate me so much!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	8. Bibbity Bobbity Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own these beautiful fictional characters

**Chapter 8**

**Bibbity Bobbity Boo**

"You're lucky Eren called me in time," Mikasa said quietly as she wrapped up Levi's ankle, "If you had waited any longer the swelling would have caused some permanent damage."

Levi 'hmph-ed' and crossed his arms, silently surveying what the pre-med student was doing.

"Thank you so much again, Mikasa!" Eren said, appearing with two glasses of water. He had called her the second they had entered the door, apologizing over and over again for making her walk all the way to Levi's apartment with her equipment. To no one's surprise, the apartment was over-the-top all spic and span…except for the kitchen.

Eren chose not to comment when he saw two sets of dirty dishes in the sink.

"I guess I should be thanking you then, Mikasa," Levi sighed, accepting one of the glasses from Eren, "You are quite remarkable for a shitty freshman."

"Hey, don't get too cocky," Mikasa said, purposefully pulling on the bandage too hardly and causing Levi to wince, "I'm only doing this because Eren asked me to."

Levi muttered something about blindly following an idiot before she pulled again, this time making him hiss in pain and break out a sweat on his forehead.

"I still want a rematch from that one day," she said, glaring at the fencing captain.

"Don't even think about sparring with me until you've earned your position in the Recon Fencing Team—and if you remember correctly, I'm the captain," said Levi smugly, "And I have a major part in deciding which students join the team next semester. So I would suggest staying on my good side."

Mikasa gritted her teeth and finished up bandaging Levi.

"I recommend resting for at least 3 days and using crutches," she said flatly, then, facing Eren, "I'll see you later, Eren." Then she silently excused herself from the apartment.

"I can't believe she's only a freshman," Levi commented, taking a sip of water, "To have the skills and knowledge to treat an injury like that already…she's a good friend to have."

"Like I said, she used to fix me up when we were kids," Eren said, sitting down on the sofa next to Levi and handing him a rag to wipe the sweat off of his face, "and she's always succeeded at whatever goal she strived for. And she's not my friend," he finished, "She's my sister."

"…Really now?" Levi asked, eyebrows rose in subtle surprise.

"Well, not exactly," replied Eren softly, looking down, "but we've lived together since we were both 9. I'm the only family she has."

Levi regarded him carefully, setting his glass down and wiping his forehead with the rag.

"I'll take your word for it. I don't pry," he said slowly. Eren sighed in relief.

"Why did she want to go into medicine?" Levi asked suddenly.

Eren flushed.

"To protect me," he mumbled, ignoring the teasing glance from Levi.

"So you're the one who needs protecting," he said, smirking when Eren's flush deepened, "That makes so much more sense now. Does she fight your battles for you too?"

"Hey, it's not like that!"

"Calm down. I was joking," Levi deadpanned.

"Oh, so you joke too?" Eren muttered, "I learn something new about you every day."

Levi stiffened next to him.

"Uh, so, um, how long have you been fencing for?" the freshman blurted out, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Since I was 10," Levi responded, visibly relaxing to Eren's relief, "So I've been fencing for about…20 years."

_20 years?!_

"Wait, how old  _are_  you?" the brunette asked, perplexed.

"I'll be 30 in December," Levi responded without missing a beat. "Why?"

Eren blinked.

"You're 29 years old!?"

No way. This guy…how was that even possible?! Surely he must be younger…or…older? What? Now that he thought about it, one couldn't really pin an age to Levi at first glance

"How is that even possible?" the 18 year-old asked, echoing his thoughts, "Shouldn't you be a grad student then? P.h.D? I thought you were an undergrad like the rest of us!"

"Shitty brat, not everyone has to be the same age to be in school!" Levi snarled, glaring at Eren, "I started here when I was 26. I'm a senior. People can start college whenever they want these days, idiot."

"What did you do before that, then?" the other blurted out without thinking, then mentally slapping himself. Levi's expression suddenly turned solemn, and he looked away.

"That's none of your damn business," he said softly.

Eren noticed the hand holding the dirty rag clench. Silence filled the room as Eren searched for something to say that would change the topic.

"I'll clean the dishes for you," was the only thing he could think of, but it apparently did the trick.

"Good," Levi muttered, tossing the rag at him, "I didn't want to look at them anyway."

* * *

The next day, Eren and Jean were both studying in their dorm room when a familiar sound signaled a very familiar feeling of dread.

_Ding!_

As if it was routine, Eren and Jean both covered their ears and waited in anticipation for the announcement to commence.

"ATTENTION STUDENTS OF KYOJIN UNIVERSITY!" Hanji's voice announced over the loudspeaker system, "Our annual Halloween Costume Ball is approaching! Today we will finally reveal which campus organization will be hosting this magical event!"

There was a moment of silence followed by a crunchy noise which sounded like the opening of an envelope.

"OH MY GOSH! IT'S THE FENCING CLUB!" Hanji's voice squealed into the loudspeaker, " THE KYOJIN UNIVERSITY FENCING CLUB WILL BE HOSTING THE COSTUME BALL! I'M SO EXCITED OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO START MAKING PREPA-!"

Suddenly a loud screech was heard from the loudspeakers, followed by some rustling and thumping.

"Congratulations, Fencing Club and Recon Fencing Team," Petra's calm voice announced, "We will discuss plans during regular club hours. That is all."

_Ding!_

Eren and Jean exchanged glances, gulping simultaneously.

Monday night saw Eren Jeager walking languidly to the fitness center, completely worn out. He just found out that he had failed his English essay, and that he was unable to make it up.

_Maybe fencing club will help me feel better,_ Eren thought sarcastically, then snorted.

Eren was greeted by an irritated Levi smacking him with his crutches for being late. Wincing, he took a seat next to Mikasa on the bleachers. Erwin was nowhere to be found. To his surprise, Petra and Hanji were already sitting down.

"Don't ask us," Petra groaned at Eren's questioning glance, "They completely took over."

"They ruined my plans!" Hanji moaned, her hair a mess.

The lights suddenly dimmed, all chatter diminishing at once as silence swept over the room. When the lights turned on again, Ymir, Krista, and Mina were standing in the middle of the room in front of a giant chalkboard.

"Alright, everyone!" Krista shouted, clapping her hands, "Mina, Ymir and I have all decided the Halloween costumes for the costume ball this year!"

"Don't include me in this!" growled Ymir, crossing her arms and huffing.

"But Ymirrr, you had the most important part!" Krista exclaimed, pouting and pulling on Ymir's sleeve. Ymir blanched and shut her mouth, face turning red.

"Whichever organization hosts the costume ball chooses the venue and theme," Krista explained, "and thanks to Ymir, we were able to get permission to hold the costume ball in Sina Hall!"

At the blank stares and silence from the others, Krista frowned. Ymir noticed this and hastily stepped in.

"W-what Krista means," she said, "Is that no costume ball has ever been held in Sina Hall before, mostly because not enough people show up. Luckily I was able to pull a few strings and get enough people to sign up for the ball in order for it to be moved from a cafeteria to Sina Hall."

"And she didn't even have to do a thing for this ball in the first place!" Mina added, smirking at the taller girl, "Ymir did this completely on her own accord. Looks like she really cares about the ball after all."

"Hey, don't tease her!" Krista exclaimed, "I think what she did was very thoughtful!"

Ymir turned red as silence filled the room.

"A-Anyway," Krista continued, her own cheeks supporting a blush as well, "We have decided that the theme for the costume ball will be Hayao Miazaki!"

She beamed when she heard excited gasps from the others in the room.

"And here are the costume assignments!" she exclaimed, turning the board around. What followed was excited chatter, moans of horror, and gasps of surprise at some of the characters that were matched with the names of the different students.

"We still need two more people to complete the set!" Mina called out over the chatter, "So if you know anyone else who wants to participate, please let me know!"

Eren chuckled as he looked over the list of names and matching characters. This was going to be an interesting Halloween.

* * *

Halloween night saw Eren, Mikasa, and Armin excitedly entering the gates of Sina Hall in their costumes. Eren and Mikasa were respectively dressed up as Ashitaka and San from Princess Mononoke, and Eren had convinced Armin to come dressed up as Howl from Howl's Moving Castle.

As the trio entered the hall (complete with pumpkin decorations and obligatory cobwebs everywhere) they ran into Levi, who, against his wishes to dress up as Haku from Spirited Away, was stuck dressing up as Sosuke from Ponyo, wearing clothes that looked two sizes too big for him. He was currently staring at the long staircase that led to the ballroom, pondering how to ascend it with his crutches.

"Stupid bastards went on without me," he muttered as he spotted the approaching trio behind him, "Oi, shitty freshmen! Any idea on how I should proceed ascending this staircase?"

Armin's mouth dropped at the expletives that left the fencing captain's mouth.

"This is our captain, Levi," Eren explained Armin as Levi rolled his eyes and said, "Forget the introductions. I've been standing here for over 10 minutes waiting for someone to help me get up this damn staircase. Are you going to help me or not?"

Mikasa gently led the still shocked Armin away from the fuming captain up the stairs to the ballroom, saying, "He's all yours, Eren."

Levi was silent as Eren surveyed the staircase before him.

"Well, there's only one way to do this," the brunette concluded, "Levi, give me your crutches." Levi wordlessly handed the crutches to Eren, who held them underneath his armpit and began reaching forward for the captain. Levi's eyes widened.

"There is no way in  _hell_ you are lifting me," he hissed, but he was too late. His mouth clamped shut as Eren promptly lifted him by the waist, quickly clambering up the steps to the ballroom before setting the captain down gently. Mikasa and Armin, who had been waiting at the entrance to the ballroom, gaped at the two.

Eren almost laughed at the priceless expression on Levi's face, which was nothing short of mortified. However the captain's expression quickly turned into a scowl as he spotted Petra (who was dressed up as Ponyo) heading their way.

"You never saw me!" Levi hissed before he snatched back his crutches from Eren and hobbled away.

"Hi Eren!" Petra exclaimed, beaming as she greeted him before smiling at Armin, "I see you brought a friend to complete our Howl's Moving Castle pair." She excitedly shook Armin's hand. "I'm Petra Ral, one of the officers for the Fencing Club. You should join! What's your name again?"

"A-Armin Arlert," Armin squeaked, taken aback by Petra's eagerness.

"By the way, have you see Levi?" Petra asked, looking at Eren, "He's been avoiding me lately but we're supposed to be partners for the ball!"

"Uh, ye—no!…I mean, yeah, no," stammered Eren, remembering that Petra was unfortunately the reason Erwin broke Levi's heart, "I'm gonna go…get punch!" He speed-walked away leaving a bewildered Petra in his wake.

_That was close. Hopefully they won't have to run into eachot—_

"Hey, watch out Jaeger!"

Eren blanched when he collided into someone dressed up as Tombo from Kiki's Delivery Service. He looked up, an apology on his lips before he saw that the person he collided with was…

"Jean?" Eren asked, stifling a laugh, "What…what are you doing here?" His roommate sure had gone the distance to look like Tombo, going as far as using gel to style his hair to look like the character and donning the big yellow sweater and glasses that Tombo always wore.

Jean grunted, adjusting the glasses that were way too large for his face, muttering, "It wasn't my choice….Marco asked." He averted Eren's eyes when he mentioned Marco's name.

"Does that mean Marco is dressed up as Kiki?" Eren questioned, then laughed out loud when the blush on Jean's face gave away the answer.

"Just don't mention this to anyone, alright?" Jean said through gritted teeth, "Stupid Marco and his stupid smile and his stupid persuasion…"

As Jean grumbled to himself, Eren looked around the ballroom to take in the Halloween scene. The ballroom was simply elegant, living up to its reputation of being one of the most prized areas in Sina Hall. Chandeliers on the ceiling contained candles inside of tiny pumpkins. Orange, black, and purple streamers were hung from every wall; a smoke machine ejected white smoke, giving the room a sort of fantasy feel, fit perfectly for the theme of the party. Many students from the university apparently loved the theme and were dressed up as characters from Hayao Miazaki films while others abandoned it and came dressed as generic Halloween characters such as vampires and black cats. Even some of the professors had decided to come—Eren spotted Professor Rico and Professor Gin bickering near the bathrooms.

Eren then looked around to see what his friends were doing. Armin had just met up with Mina, who was dressed as Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle; the two were now conversing. Over by the punch bowl a large crowd had surrounded Mikasa, who looked stunning in her San outfit. Petra was walking around anxiously looking for Levi while Hanji and Sasha, who were dressed up as Lin and Chihiro from Spirited Away respectfully, were both chattering excitedly over the dance music. Connie, who looked hilarious dressed up as Haku from Spirited Away was laughing hysterically at a joke that Thomas, who had opted to dress up as a giant pumpkin, had just told. As for Krista and Ymir, the two girls were in the middle of the dance floor. Krista, who had no choice but to wear a wig to look like Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, was trying her best to twirl around Ymir who had dressed up as Pazu from the same movie and was trying to pull her hat down to cover her blushing face.

Wait, where was Marco? Wasn't he supposed to be with Jean?

"Oi, Eren," came a silky voice from behind him before a hand grabbed his sleeve. Eren jumped, whirling around to see Levi balancing precariously on one foot; his crutches had disappeared. The captain gripped his arm once again for support.

"What happened to  _you?"_ Eren asked incredulously, noticing that Levi's appearance had become somewhat disheveled: his hair was dripping wet and stuck out in random places, and there was a big red stain on the front of his yellow shirt.

"Damn crutches malfunctioned and I tripped into the punch bowl," Levi muttered, "The stupid things are too tall for me!"

"You wha-!?"

"Levi!" cried Petra, running over to the two of them, "I've been looking all over you? Where have you been? Why have you been avoiding me all week?"

As Petra fired round after round of questions she failed to notice that Levi's expression had darkened considerably, his mouth upturned in a scowl. The grip he had on Eren's shirt tightened.

All of a sudden, the doors to the ballroom swung wide open. Everyone gaped as Bertholdt, dressed up as Tatsuo Kusakabe from My Neighbour Totoro entered the room escorting someone wearing a giant Totoro costume. There was a split second of silence before a chorus of squeals followed as several girls ran up to Totoro, hugging the poor guy who was stuck inside of the costume. Normal conversation resumed again as the music began to pick up, transitioning into a dance song.

"Hey, who's in the Totoro costume?" Levi piped up to Petra, who looked relieved that Levi was talking to her again.

"I actually don't know," she said slowly, "We didn't have anyone signed up to be dressed as Totoro originally…"

* * *

As the trio pondered who was inside the Totoro costume, another spectacle was occurring on the dance floor. Ymir had finally given in to Krista's pleas to dance, and was now desperately trying to keep up with the smaller girl's steps.

"This is fun!" Krista exclaimed, twirling around in a circle, "I'm so glad you were able to convince the Dean to let us use this beautiful ballroom for the ball!"

"D-Don't mention it," Ymir mumbled, focusing on not stepping on Krista's feet. Inside she was panicking. Tonight was the night she wanted to ask Krista the question she had been wanting to ask ever since the crazy party that had happened the first week of school. A nervous sweat broke out on her forehead as she remembered the feeling of the blonde's lips on hers as wild music had filled their ears just as it did now.

It was time to suck it up and just ask the damn question!

"K-Krista," Ymir stuttered as the music transitioned into a beautiful slow dance song ( _Shit! Now this is gonna be so cheesy,_ she thought _)_ , "I need to ask you something…"

"What is it?" Krista asked, smiling and playfully putting her hand on the taller girl's shoulder. Ymir twitched—whenever Krista smiled light seemed to radiate from her. Even though she was wearing a wig, she still looked like an angel. Ymir gulped and gently pulled the girl closer to her, placing two shaking hands around the smaller waist.

"Ymir?" Krista asked softly as the brunette slowly leaned down to whisper in her ear:

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Krista's eyes widened as she backed away, removing her hands from Ymir's shoulders to cover her mouth in shock.

_Shit!_  Ymir screamed in her head. "Krista, I, um…wait! I didn't—I mean, just forget I said any-!"

Ymir was silenced when two pink plump lips connected with hers.

Her hat fell onto the floor from the force of Krista throwing herself into Ymir's arms. The taller girl stumbled backwards, holding desperately onto the girl she loved as she tried to regain her balance. Around her, several guys had started whooping.

Krista finally pulled back, tearful beautiful blue eyes gazing deep into Ymir's as she gasped, "Yes! Yes of course I will!"

Ymir felt the prickle of tears in the corners of her own eyes as she held Krista close, this time leading the two in a slow dance herself.

* * *

Something was wrong with Totoro. Bertholdt kept trying to lead whoever was wearing the costume to the drink bar, but Totoro kept on pulling away, trying to inch its way to where Levi, Petra, and Eren were standing and conversing. Even the girls who had latched onto the fuzzy costume initially had backed away, staring at Totoro in concern.

"Reiner—what—is —wrong with you?!" Bertholdt grunted as he tugged on Totoro's arm, "You're making a scene!"

Totoro was silent but persistent in his efforts to run over to the two.

"That's it, you've gone insane, haven't you?!" Bertholdt hissed, letting go for a split second before latching onto the costume head and wrenching it off in anger.

"Wait, what are  _you_  doing here?!" he gasped when Erwin's face was revealed, blonde hair mussed up and face sweaty from being confined in the costume all night. A few feet away the trio had frozen. Eren's mouth had opened in surprise; Petra looked confused; Levi looked as if he wanted to strangle the blonde.

"P-Petra!" Erwin burst out, causing the girl to flinch, "I know this is sudden, but I just can't avoid this any longer. Levi, forgive me! Petra, will you grant me the honour of being your loved one?"

Petra's blush conveyed one thing, but her expression conveyed another. If anything, Petra appeared frightened at the desperation evident in the professor's tone and appearance. She opened her mouth but was unable to answer.

Erwin cursed, gasping and, shoving Bertholdt from his path, lumbered away in half of his Totoro costume as many students stared at the spectacle in utter confusion.

"I am going to kill that bastard!" Levi shouted as Eren fumbled over his words as he tried to explain to Petra what was going on.

* * *

Marco shivered as he clutched onto the broom that Armin had lent him, wandering around the empty locker room to the fencing studio. He hadn't really wanted to wear the dress for his Kiki costume, but there was no way he was going to convince Jean to dress up as the witch.

He had gotten a mysterious note earlier saying that there was going to be a reception for the fencing studio before the Halloween Costume Ball in the locker rooms, but it had already been an hour and nobody had showed up! Now he was stuck waiting around for anyone to come, the chilly wind of the night blowing in through the open windows.

"I wonder where they all went," he wondered out loud, adjusting the big red bow he had tied around his head.

Suddenly, he heard a door slam. Marco dropped his broom in shock, but went forward to investigate. He peeked around the edge of one of the locker units to see who was there when the lights mysteriously turned off.

"Who's…who's there?" Marco called out nervously, "Guys? This better not be some sort of Halloween scaring prank!"

"Oh I assure you, this is no prank," someone breathed into his ear. Marco yelped, tripping over his own feet and falling onto the floor. He felt the weight of someone pressing onto his chest.

"Who are you?" he gasped, struggling to raise himself up, but kept being pushed down by the perpetrator. Unfortunately, he had fallen into one of the corners of the room where the moonlight streaming from the window didn't reach.

"I saw what you were doing in the locker rooms during the football game," the voice hissed, and suddenly Marco felt something pushing painfully into his abdomen, making him gasp for breath, "And now you're going to pay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves...the next chapter is going to be INTENSE o.o
> 
> please please please comment! I am eternally grateful for all the kudos and hits, but comments make all the difference! Thank you everyone for the continued support!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	9. Breakdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING (I think): If you are queasy about explicit sex/rape scenes (and trust me, this is not the good type of sex scene), I suggest you skip the giant section that's in italics...other than that...I hope you guys don't hate me too much for this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in SnK...except for my OC, Lukas (who you're all gonna hate by the end of this chapter if you don't hate him already)

**Chapter 9**

**Breakdown**

The first day of November provided a cruel awakening into the last few months of the semester for Eren via text message.

He awoke to his phone ringing right next to his head. He groaned, reaching over and squinting as he read the text message that Petra had sent to everybody in the Fencing Club:

_Hey everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween last night!_

_I would like everybody to arrive to fencing today half an hour early. We are going to have a special guest arriving today—his name is Dot Pixis, one of the great fencing masters Kyojin has been honoured to host over the past several years. He also happens to be our Associate Dean, and is currently in charge as our regular Dean, Dean Darius Zackly, is on leave._

_For the last months of the semester he will be helping us out prepare for competitions in the spring, as well as picking out potential candidates for the Recon Fencing Team—which you should all be aspiring to join! Can't wait to see all of you today!_

_-Petra_

Great. Now there was more pressure to deal with—and since Levi had injured his ankle, Eren hadn't gotten any footwork lessons. How was he going to have any chance of getting chosen for the team?

His phone buzzed again.

_Eren, I wanted to thank you for explaining everything that happened last night. I don't know what I'm going to do about Erwin—I'm not even sure he's going to show up to fencing today—but keep an eye on Levi for me, alright? He hasn't been himself lately._

_-Petra_

Eren texted back a quick  _Okay, thanks Petra,_ before shoving his phone underneath his pillow and trying to go back to sleep.

_Bzzt!_

_Eren! I kind of want to join fencing now…where do I sign up so I can come next semester?_

_-Armin_

Okay, so sleep was out of the question. He texted Armin the location and time of the Fencing Club for the spring and then rose like a zombie from his bed. It was still dark outside, but Eren could see enough to tell that Jean was sprawled out on his bed covered in candy wrappers, snoring loudly. Marco had never shown up to the Halloween party, so Jean had decided to eat candy to calm his troubles.

(Eren had walked in on Jean mumbling nervously to himself as he stuffed a giant piece of chocolate in his mouth at 2am. Eren was too tired to even try to question what was going on, so he simply told Jean to go to bed before diving underneath his covers).

His stomach still grumbling from his own previous candy rush, Eren got out of bed and prepared for one stressful day.

* * *

The afternoon greeted the fencing club with an air of uneasiness—everyone wanted to do their best to impress Dot Pixis, who was apparently a bigger deal than Eren had thought. People were muttering about what moves they need to improve as they put on their gear, making sure everyone had the right uniforms and blades. Even Hanji seemed on edge, her expression stony as she parried with Petra, their blades clanging against each other as they parried without skipping a beat.

Eren noticed that Marco looked especially on edge today; the boy just couldn't stop fumbling with the Velcro of his gloves.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eren asked, concerned, "You never showed up to the Halloween Costume Ball last night." Marco had dark circles under his eyes, and looked as if he hadn't slept a wink. The taller boy jumped, accidentally pulling too tight, and hissed as the gloves strangled his hand. After a moment of confusion he sighed in relief, as it was only Eren who had noticed his mishap.

"Oh, I'm fine!" he answered, chuckling nervously and scratching the back of his head, "I was just working on a p-project for my Economics class last night and didn't get much sleep."

Eren didn't miss the stutter, but decided not to press, noticing how Marco looked almost frightened to hear any sort of disagreement from the shorter boy.

"Hey Mikasa, do you think you could help me out with my lunges?" Eren asked Mikasa when she came up to him, her fencing mask already on her face. Mikasa nodded and the two began to practice.

"Eren, were you considering joining the Recon Fencing Team?" Mikasa asked as they parried. She lunged but Eren was quick to block her blade, instead focusing on keeping his footwork steady and his blade balanced in his hand.

"I was…but I'm not sure if I'll be good enough to get in. What about you?"

"I'll only do it if you do it," Mikasa said simply, then dodged Eren's lunge, "You're getting better, Eren. I think you'd have a chance."

"Yeah, well, thank Levi for that," he muttered, retreating slowly; Mikasa followed. "He's been giving me private footwork lessons for the past few months."

Eren couldn't see Mikasa's expression, which had suddenly turned sour.

Suddenly there was a scuffle from outside the door. Mikasa and Eren froze, slowly lowering their blades. To everyone's surprise, Jean came bursting in, football helmet in one hand…and fencing gear in the other? The football player staggered, then tripped over his feet as a second person entered the fencing room—it was Lukas Schmidt, quarterback of the Titan football team! He smirked as Jean hastily scrambled to his feet.

"What?" the quarterback sneered, eying the fencing gear Jean was clutching, "Are you seriously going to tell me you'd rather join this gayass sport than be our line-backer? Are you just gonna give up your place like that? Answer me, Kirstein!"

Jean was silent, but his eyes nervously flitted over to Marco, who had paled inexplicably. Lukas followed Jean's gaze and began laughing.

"Oh, I see.  _Him?_  Really? And here I thought you were just like the rest of us. Don't tell me you're quitting just because of him!"

Jean looked like a deer in headlights as everyone began looking back and forth between Marco and Jean. His secret was going to get out. He couldn't handle it. He couldn't deal with the humiliation. He couldn't—

"NO!" he heard Eren shout and Jean snapped back to reality just in time to see Lukas grab Marco by his collar, dragging him to the center of the room. Marco's eyes widened as a familiar panic washed over him, and he struggled in the quarterback's iron grip. Jean dropped what he was holding and charged towards him, enraged, but was stopped by Lukas' other hand, which connected with his gut. Lukas just laughed as he pushed the smaller dark-haired boy to the ground.

"No, no. No! Don't touch me!" Marco shrieked, finally losing control. He was pleading,  _begging,_  tears starting to form in his eyes. Jean ignored the pain he was in and knelt beside Marco, holding him up and urging him to calm down. Lukas chuckled as he looked at the sorry sight before him.

"You're seriously going to give this all up, aren't you?" he said, watching, bemused, as Marco slowly calmed down in Jean's arms. He hadn't meant to spook the kid that badly…not as bad as last night, at least.

"Just leave him alone!" gasped Jean.

"You can just go and fuck around in the showers then, you fag!"

"I am NOT gay!" roared the other, who was still holding up Marco. He failed to notice the hurt expression that flashed across the freckled boy's face.

"What, you're bi-then? Doesn't matter, it still means you like having a dick shoved up your—!"

Suddenly the sound of a sword clanging to the ground was heard. Everyone in the room flinched and whipped around to find the source.

Levi was standing in the doorway, now dressed in his fencing gear. His head was hung, hair blocking the expression on his face. His right hand was gripping the doorframe so hard that his hand shook.

"Since when does  _anyone_  need a label to love somebody?" he hissed, lifting his head slowly.

He looked  _livid._

He crossed over to Lukas in three quick strides, leaving his saber by the doorway, and reached up to pull Lukas' face to level with his own. Lukas smirked.

"What are you going to do,  _Captain?"_ he scoffed, "You're probably one of them too-!"

_WHAM._

Levi had kicked Lukas in the gut, causing him to howl and sink to his knees. But Levi didn't stop there. Lukas barely had time to take a breath before a foot connected with his face, sending him sprawling to the ground with a bloody nose. Nothing but cold fury was evident in Levi's expression, and he didn't hold back at all as he pounced on the taller male. Everyone could only watch, mortified, as Levi started to punch him, sending a fist into his eye, then into his ribs, then back to his nose, to his mouth—a tooth popped out at this point—to his ears—

"Levi, if you don't release Lukas  _this second_ I will  _personally_  have you expelled from the university."

Levi halted, his fist a centimeter away from Lukas' jugular.

Dot Pixis stood in the doorway this time, a dark aura emanating and making the room seem like it was twenty degrees cooler. He didn't say a word as he picked up Levi's saber, and crossed the room to where the two students were.

Before anybody could blink, the coach and Associate Dean had yanked Levi up to his feet by his uniform, eyes boring into the captain's rage-blinded ones. Not a word was exchanged between the two as they carried out the most intense staring contest anyone had ever seen. Eventually, the fire in Levi's eyes was extinguished, leaving behind a man broken by his own actions looking at the floor, ashamed. Pixis seemed to acknowledge this and broke off his gaze, taking a step forward to jab the tip of Levi's saber into Lukas' chest. Lukas gaped and struggled to move away, but Pixis only pushed the tip in deeper.

"Mr. Schmidt," he growled, "You are aware that hate crimes are punishable by law, are you not?"

"Wha-what-that's not-hate crimes?!" Lukas sputtered, trembling where he lay, "I didn't do anything to Levi,  _he_  punched  _me_ -!"

" _I_   _wasn't referring to Captain Levi,_ " the coach hissed, putting more weight on the saber and causing Lukas to gasp for air, "I was talking about the textbooks found in the fountain a few weeks ago; I was talking about the hazing situation that happened in the beginning of the semester, I was talking about little  _incident_  that happened in the locker rooms last night with Mister Bodt over here!"

Lukas face went as white as a sheet.

Pixis' eyes now held the same flame that had been ignited in Levi's eyes earlier, but went unnoticed by the students, who were now focusing their gazes on the freckled freshman. Marco's mouth trembled as he focused his gaze on the ground, trying to will the rest of his body to stop shaking. The blood from Jean's face had vanished, his expression unreadable.

"I may not be the Dean of this school," Pixis snarled, "But I can damn well do my job as an administrator while the Dean is away. You will come to my office,  _and you will not question me."_

He finally lifted his blade, his expression unwavering as Lukas gingerly picked himself up off of the floor. Pixis put a hand on Levi's shoulder—it wasn't shrugged off—then silently left the room, the injured football player in tow.

Petra and Hanji looked at each other. Petra nodded, and cleared her throat, snapping everyone out of the haze the situation had just caused.

"Practice is cancelled for today," Hanji announced quietly, "We'll resume next week. I'll make arrangements for the coaches to come as well." Everyone nodded, still stunned, and slowly exited the room. Levi was still in not completely in his normal state, but didn't argue when Petra gently took his hand and led him away with Hanji following. Eren made to follow them, but Mikasa's hand on his arm stopped him. When he turned, Mikasa shook her head.

"He needs time," she said softly. That was all she needed to say. Eren nodded, crushed, but nevertheless followed Mikasa as they too left.

The only ones left in the fencing room were Jean and Marco. Jean was looking at the ground, frozen. Marco put a hand to his heart and cleared his throat.

"Jean…I'm really sorry…I didn't know that not showing up last night would cause this much trouble, and-!"

"Marco, what did he do to you?" Jean asked quietly, his eyes still on the ground.

"Jean, it doesn't m-matter anymore, it—"

" _What did he do to you, Marco?!"_

"He…he…"

And Marco was forced to relive last night all over again.

* * *

_"Who are you?" he gasped, struggling to raise himself up, but kept being pushed down by the perpetrator. Unfortunately, he had fallen into one of the corners of the room where the moonlight streaming from the window didn't reach._

_"I saw what you were doing in the locker rooms during the football game," the voice hissed, and suddenly Marco felt something pushing painfully into his abdomen, making him gasp for breath, "And now you're going to pay."_

_Marco could feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes as the pain intensified. He tried to shout, only to have it be muffled by a piece of cloth being stuffed into his mouth._

_"Don't you dare make a sound," his perpetrator whispered and suddenly Marco could feel hot breath ghosting over his face before something wet trailed down his cheek. He barely had time to recognize the feeling of his own tears before a tongue dragged itself over his cheek, lapping up the tears. The voice hushed him as the pressure on his abdomen was suddenly lifted and the cloth removed from his mouth. Marco gulped in deep breaths of precious air almost to the point where he was hyperventilating. His entire body was trembling as he tried to lift his arms to cover his face, only to have them pinned above his head._

_"I'm not done with you." One of those hands began running down the length of his body before reaching the bottom of his…._

_"Why the hell are you wearing a dress, fairy boy?"_

_Fairy boy? Wait, that sounds fami—_

_"AH!"_

_Marco yelped when cool air suddenly hit his torso. His dress had been violently yanked up, revealing his pale chest to the freezing cold air that was blowing in through the window. Goosebumps peppered his skin when the hand began running itself up and down its chest._

_"Flawless," the voice whispered before two fingers pinched a nipple. Marco bit back a scream, arching into the touch against his body's will._

_"You like it, don't you?" the voice purred next to his ear as heat rose into Marco's face, whimpers finally being released from his lips. The fingers rubbed, pinched, and twisted until the nipple had hardened into a nub. His eyes clenched shut, trying to surrender himself to darkness, but the ministrations prevented him from doing so._

_He didn't like this!_

_A scream finally burst from his lips as the head suddenly moved down, encasing his other nipple in hot moist lips. He squirmed, pleading, as a tongue darted out to lick the now hardened nub, lips closing and sucking. The hand holding his wrists together clamped on tighter; he would surely have bruises in the morning._

_Tears fell freely from his eyes as he felt his own body beginning to betray him, a familiar heat forming below his abdomen as his torso arched upward…_

_He didn't like this!_

_"Don't cry, baby," the voice hummed around his nipple; this only caused Marco to sob harder. His attacker grunted, releasing his nipple, before gagging the freckled boy once more._

_"That ought'll keep you quiet for a while," the voice muttered, "Now where were we?"_

_Marco felt the body above him shift, a hand trailing down his chest, past his navel and to the hem of his boxers._

_No!_

_"Oooh, I see you got a little excited there huh?" the voice teased as a finger poked the peak of the tent that had formed in his boxers. Marco struggled weakly as he felt the hand slowly pull down his boxers, releasing his arousal from its hot confines. To his utter shame, precum was already dribbling down from the tip._

_"Turned on by another guy…how shameful," the voice doted, as nimble fingers nudged his member before grabbing it tightly, causing more tears to slip from Marco's eyes._

_"Hey. I'm doing you a favour by making you feel good. Just imagine it's your lover Jean, hmmm?"_

_The strokes were getting more rapid, Marco's body getting more heated._

_Jean would never do this to him!_

_He began trembling in earnest as he felt himself getting close to climax. He helplessly arched more into the touch, closing his eyes and letting the sensation overtake him…._

_And suddenly the hand was gone, leaving him panting and desperate, unable to release._

_"You'd like to cum wouldn't you, you little slut," the voice hissed, "Well guess what, my purpose tonight isn't to pleasure you. You've got another thing coming."_

_In that instance the weight on his lower body disappeared as the person stood back to survey Marco, the moonlight streaming from the window revealing a crescent-moon shaped scar on his chin. Marco could only stare, paralyzed with fear, as he recognized the fringe of blonde-white hair, finally being able to match a face to the voice._

_Lukas!_

_"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Lukas asked, lips forming into a malicious grin as he began tugging down his own pants and boxers, revealing his own already-hard member. "This will be fun."_

_And then without warning or preparation, he lifted Marco's legs above his shoulders and plunged into his entrance._

_What followed was blinding indescribable pain._

_Lukas thrust into him mercilessly, hardly letting him take a breath as he rammed himself over and over into Marco. The gag was yanked from his mouth, only to be replaced by a tongue as Lukas practically ate his face, his tongue reaching the back of his throat and nearly causing him to choke._

_He couldn't breathe…he couldn't breathe!_

_Lukas raked one hand over his chest, drawing blood. Marco's screams were absorbed by Lukas' mouth as the sound of skin against skin filled the air. Lukas finally came with a grunt, filling Marco to the brim before he resurfaced from Marco's lips, gasping as he pulled himself out._

_Marco lay there numbly like a broken rag doll, a mixture of semen and blood trickling from his entrance as Lukas pulled his pants back on. He made sure to kick Marco in the ribs as he walked away, whispering, "Happy Halloween."_

* * *

"I'm sorry, Jean…I'm sorry!" Marco finished, tears slipping through his closed eyes. He wrapped his arms around himself and sobbed in earnest. Jean bit back tears himself, and finally did what he had been wanting to do for months.

He closed the distance between them and gently wrapped his arms around the sobbing person he loved.

Marco froze in his embrace. Jean just wrapped his arms tighter.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he whispered, running a hand up and down his back, "Nothing at all. I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry, Marco. I'm so sorry."

He felt Marco start shaking with sobs again and bury his head into his shoulder.

And Jean apologized over and over again as the two gently rocked back and forth, the sweet sound of silence offering them their only consolation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I personally had the hardest time writing this chapter...I think I even made myself cry a few times. I was actually pretty apprehensive about posting this chapter so soon, but I've had this particular chapter written since like...chapter 2 (I plan these things way in advance)
> 
> I hope you guys don't completely hate me! I promise the chapters following this will definitely not be as dark..
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	10. Standstill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who ship Reiner/Bertholdt...you shall get it in this chapter :3

**Chapter 10**

**Standstill**

"Is he going to be okay?" Jean asked anxiously as Hanji finished her examination of Marco. Whether it was exhaustion, stress, or any combination of the two, Marco had passed out in Jean's arms shortly after he had cried his eyes out, causing Jean to panic and carry him all the way over to the student Medical Center. Hanji had answered the door—she had never met Jean before so there were some rapid-fire questions from her, asking why Jean had showed up with Lukas at the fencing studio, why he was holding an unconscious Marco, and  _why on Earth_ hadn't he joined the Fencing Club already?!

"I'll explain later!" Jean had exclaimed angrily, "Zoe—Hanji—whatever your name is, he needs help!"

Hanji had taken one look at Marco and ceased her questions, instructing Jean to lay Marco on one of the beds so she could examine him. After about half an hour of poking, prodding, and doing God-knows-what to Marco, Hanji wiped her forehead and removed her glasses.

"Now, you have to understand I'm a biology major, not a medical student," she explained slowly, "But I know enough to identify a trauma case when I see one. Jean, would you mind telling me why Lukas decided to go after Marco when he arrived?"

And so Jean had been forced to re-tell what Marco had told him, watching as Hanji's expression became stern, her hair falling over her eyes.

"Remind me to skin that boy alive the next time I see him," she muttered once Jean had finished, "I see no reason why he shouldn't be expelled because of something like that."

"Yes, he's an absolute shitbag; but what about Marco!?" Jean almost yelled.

Hanji sighed and closed her eyes.

"He's going to need some time," she said, "From what I can tell, he hasn't been eating or sleeping properly…combined with the stress from his academic workload and what Lukas did to him, it's amazing he hasn't had a complete mental breakdown yet. I can refer you guys to the Karanese School of Medicine; there are some amazing students in there that will know exactly what to do, but it's up to Marco to decide how hard he's willing to work to repair the damage that's been done…both physically and emotionally."

Jean clenched his teeth, reaching forward and taking one of Marco's limp hands in his own as he gazed upon the unconscious face of the person who had used to practically radiate warmth and light from his person.

"You love him, don't you?" Hanji asked quietly.

"I do," Jean admitted, his voice breaking as he bit back tears, "And I'm just sorry I was too stupid to realize it sooner."

Hanji put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not knowing how you feel about someone doesn't make you stupid," she said, "And it's more important than ever for you to be strong now for Marco. I think joining the Fencing Club would be a good step for both of you—forget about what Lukas said; I think joining would give Marco a better sense of security, and help you figure things out for yourself."

Jean nodded and said, "I think you're right…I was only considering joining in the first place because of Marco…but I think this will help me figure out what path I want to pursue from now on."

"That's great," Hanji said, "Now if you'll excuse me for a moment."

Jean watched, puzzled, as Hanji propelled herself on the chair with wheels she was sitting on towards the door, opening it and wheeling outside.

"PETRA!" she suddenly called out into the hallway, causing Jean to jump and Marco to stir in his sleep, "HE SAID HE'LL JOIN! NICE PLANNING!"

"Hanji, quiet down!" a higher-pitched female voice called back, "Levi's trying to relax!"

"GREAT, LET HIM KNOW WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER!" Hanji called back, and Jean smacked his forehead.

These people were crazy.

* * *

"Sorry about that," Petra said sheepishly as Levi glared daggers at the door. Levi had still been in a state of shock when Petra had gently led him to the Medical Center so he could calm down, but now he was showing signs of returning to his usual self, even going as far as mumbling that the floors of the room he was in were filthy when Petra handed him a glass of water.

However, he had gone quite pale when Petra had taken a wet cloth to clean the blood from his knuckles. Petra chose not to comment on how badly his hands were shaking.

"Hey, Petra," he finally rasped after Petra had apologized about Hanji, his voice frighteningly leveled, "How badly did I hurt him?"

Petra dared to look at his face, and recognized the haunted expression that she had seen so many years ago when she had first met Levi. His eyes were wide and unblinking, gazing not at the present but a past that was hidden deep within the recesses of his mind, a past that was threatening to bubble to the surface.

She hadn't seen that expression in a long time.

"Levi, listen to me," she said sternly, abandoning the cloth and grasping his hands in hers, "Lukas is fine. Just a few bruises and a tooth missing—" she winced when Levi twitched, "But nothing major. You lost control, but you did not kill him, Levi. You did not kill him."

Levi blinked, eyes wide and seeing a past that had long since left him, his breath hitching as he fought back the beginnings of tears.

"We're all here for you, Levi," Petra said gently, running a hand up and down his back as Levi fought to keep his emotions under control, "Me, Hanji, Erwin, Gunther, Eld…even Oluo, wherever he his anyway. Nobody's going to abandon you."

"Erwin abandoned me," the captain said weakly and Petra lowered her gaze to the floor.

"He was someone important to you, wasn't he?" she asked softly.

Levi clenched his fist.

"He was."

For a moment the of them remained in that position, Petra running her thumb over Levi's hand as Levi's breathing grew calm once more. The ticking of the clock provided the only indicator that time was still moving forward, that the moment the two shared was still trapped within the strict confines of reality.

"What are you going to do about him?" he finally asked, looking straight into her eyes. Petra's gaze faltered, her thumb stilled.

"I don't know," she admitted, "From what Eren told me…he had no right to treat you like he did, Levi. Frankly, I think his reason for breaking up with you was quite stupid. " She hesitated.

"I think  _I'm_ stupid too, for not noticing how Erwin has been changing," she finished softly.

"You're not stupid," Levi said heatedly, "Don't degrade yourself like that."

"…Sorry," the other said meekly. Levi sighed, rising to his feet and removing his hand from Petra's

"Petra, right now you're the only person in the team I can trust," he said with his back facing her, his voice stronger, "And whatever you decide to do about Erwin, I will not question."

"I'm going to talk to him," Petra said, standing up as well and crossing her arms, "I'm going to talk to him, and straighten things out…"

"PETRA! Marco's awake, he's awake!" Hanji yelled from the other room, causing both of them to jump.

"Levi, why don't you just stay in here and rest for a while; I'm going to make sure Marco is alright," Petra said, fumbling to grab her coat while Levi hesitantly sat back down in his chair, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Whatever," Levi mumbled as Petra halted, halfway out the door. She turned around slowly.

"Levi, I just wanted to thank you…to thank you for still trusting me," she said in a small voice, "And I'll always be there for you if you need anything."

When Levi didn't respond Petra sighed and reluctantly left, closing the door shut behind her. Levi waited until the sound of her footsteps disappeared before saying quietly, "Thank you, Petra."

* * *

Armin awoke that evening when he heard someone knocking on his door. Curious, he slowly padded over to look through the peephole, wondering who would be knocking at this hour.

To his surprise, Mikasa was the one standing outside of his room! Wait…was she crying?

Armin opened the door, alarmed, and his suspicions were confirmed. Tears dripped down her face as she hesitantly took a step into the room, Armin closing the door behind her.

"Mikasa, what's wrong?" he asked, taking her hand and guiding her so she could take a seat by his desk, "Y-you never cry…"

Mikasa simply shook her head, giving Armin a signal to wait for a moment. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Armin," she said, "But Eren…"

"Eren?"Armin asked, taking a seat on his bed across from Mikasa, "What about Eren?"

Mikasa took another deep breath and recounted to Armin what had happened just a few hours ago:

_Eren and Mikasa were huddled in the back of the library, still in their fencing uniforms. Mikasa had practically dragged the brunette there, ignoring the strange looks they were getting from the other students._

_"Are you okay?" Mikasa asked after the two of them had taken the time to catch their breath and recover from what had happened in the fencing studio._

_"I think so," Eren said, looking at the ground, "I just can't believe…do you think what Dot Pixis said was true? About what Lukas did to Marco in the locker rooms?"_

_Neither had to voice what Dox Pixis had implied earlier._

_"Unfortunately, I think so," Mikasa responded sadly, "I just can't believe there are still people like Lukas who bully others simply because of who they love."_

_Beside her Eren had stiffened, his eyebrows tightly knitted together as he remembered Levi's words about labeling and love._

_Mikasa turned to face him._

_"Eren, you're hiding something," she guessed accurately. Eren sighed, hiding his face in his arms which were wrapped around his knees._

_"What is it?"_

_Eren shook his head._

_"What is it?" Mikasa asked a little more forcefully, causing a chorus of "Shh!"s to be directed at the two freshmen._

_"Mikasa, can I trust you to keep a secret?" Eren said, his voice muffled from still being buried in his arms. Mikasa frowned as she put a hand on Eren's shoulder, genuinely concerned._

_"Of course you can trust me," she said slowly, "Now what's wrong, Eren?"_

_Eren lifted his face from his arms, and to Mikasa's surprise his cheeks were tinged red. He leaned forward, whispering into Mikasa's ear:_

_"I think…I think I might like Levi."_

_Shock._

_Confusion._

_Anger._

_And…sadness._

_Mikasa felt these all at once, almost to the point where they overwhelmed her senses as Eren leaned back to hide his face once more. Mikasa took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and suppress the emotions threatening to bubble to the surface. She couldn't lose it here; she had to stay focused on making sure Eren was reassured that he could trust her._

_"When did you realize this?" she forced herself to ask._

_"I don't know," Eren responded, "but seeing what Lukas did to Marco…I'm scared, Mikasa." Mikasa suddenly grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to face her as she looked deep into his eyes._

_"You should never be afraid to love," she said sternly, her grasp tightening, "And if anyone even attempts to hurt you because of who you choose, they will have to answer to me."_

_Eren slumped, relief clouding his features as he leaned forward to hug Mikasa._

_"Thank you, Mikasa," he said, "I can always count on you!"_

_"That's what I'm here for," Mikasa responded gently, ignoring the pain in her heart._

"You wanted to be closer to him than a sister, didn't you?" Armin murmured softly as Mikasa finished. Mikasa nodded, eyes downcast.

"Everything I do is for him," she said, "Everything. And now I have to let him go as if nothing ever counted. How am I supposed to protect him when his heart wants to go somewhere I can't follow?"

When Armin saw Mikasa start to blink away tears again, he moved forward, and wrapped his arms around her. To his relief Mikasa didn't pull away or try to push him…she simply relaxed in his hold, allowing the blonde to fully embrace her.

"Sometimes we can't follow him no matter how hard we try," Armin said, "But what we can do is be there for him. No matter what happens, being there can make all the difference." He felt Mikasa nod against his neck, smaller hands gently resting on his back as she returned his embrace. She was still shaking.

"Mikasa?" Armin whispered.

"What?"

"It's okay to cry, you know. Bottling up your pain only makes things worse. I won't judge or make fun of you…you're my best friend."

The hands clutching the back of his shirt tightened and Armin felt warm tears dripping onto his shoulder as Mikasa silently wept.

* * *

"Lukas showed up at fencing club today," Bertholdt said, his head in Reiner's lap as the blonde ran his fingers through dark tresses. Across from him he heard a slight intake of breath from Annie.

"Now why would that boy show up at fencing club?" Reiner asked nonchalantly.

"Hmm, I don't really feel like telling," Bertholdt teased, closing his eyes.

"Really now?" The fingers in his hair stirred. Bertholdt sighed and sat up, placing his hands on Reiner's shoulders.

"That is, not unless you ask nicely," he smirked. Reiner sighed and pulled Bertholdt's head toward his own, kissing him deeply on the lips. Annie  _tsk_ 'ed and crossed her arms, blowing a stray hair from her face.

"Hey Bertholdt, I'd really appreciate it if you could kindly let me know why Lukas decided to come to fencing," Reiner breathed hotly into Bertholdt's mouth,  _"Please."_

Annie rolled her eyes, muttering, "Too easy."

Bertholdt detached his mouth from his boyfriend's with a slight smack, before he wiped his mouth and said, "That Jean kid who's always causing trouble was considering joining fencing. Lukas took it the wrong way. And apparently he spooked one of the other members pretty badly."

"Is that so?" Reiner murmured, leaning in to pepper butterfly kisses on the other's neck.

"But that—that's not all!" he gasped as Reiner latched onto one spot, sucking hard while Annie made a gagging sound, "Levi—Levi went crazy and attacked him! Dot Pixis even showed up and had to stop him!"

Reiner pulled back sharply, making Bertholdt whine at the loss of warm contact.

"Levi lost control, huh?" Annie asked, her eyes widening as she stared at the ground, "Now that's something new…" She looked up and caught Reiner's gaze, which had turned quite sullen.

"What more, even Dot Pixis had to come," Reiner continued, "which is very rare indeed…"

Annie shrugged. "They must be already preparing for competitions," she commented before Reiner cleared his throat.

"Bertholdt, have you been keeping tabs on Professor Erwin like I asked you too?" he asked seriously, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I've been trying to, but he hasn't showed up to lecture my class in a while, or to fencing club," Bertholdt said, frowning, "But that reminds me, something peculiar  _did_ happen at that Halloween party…"

He trailed off, looking at Reiner expectantly. Reiner sighed and kissed Bertholdt once more, this time coaxing the other's mouth open with his tongue and delving inside, both tongues wrestling until Reiner's became the victor.

"You really need to think of other methods of persuasion, idiot," Annie scoffed, "Cut it out! I sleep in this room, goodness."

"S-Sorry," Bertholdt stammered once the two had separated, "But I hardly get to see Reiner! You two are always busy with your R.A. work and stuff…"

"We can talk about that later, now what was so interesting about Halloween?" Reiner asked, growing impatient.

"Oh, yeah, that. Well, I had asked you  _so nicely_  to accompany me to the party," Bertholdt began, "But imagine my surprise when I discovered Erwin inside of that Totoro costume instead of you!"

"Look, I said I was sorry for not showing up," Reiner said sheepishly, "But like I said: Annie and I were busy with Garrison activities. Now what in the world was Erwin doing inside of that costume?" Bertholdt started giggling as he answered, "He asked out Petra! Can you believe it? And she was so surprised that she couldn't even answer him!"

Annie looked at Reiner, completely shocked.

"That can't be possible," Reiner said slowly, his voice echoing the shock on Annie's face, "He's supposed to be with Levi."

"Someone told me they broke up," Bertholdt said nonchalantly, "And I'm pretty sure the whole school found out about it too. I mean, the two of them have been fighting since the beginning of the semester."

"Interesting," said Annie, folding her fingers together and leaning back on her bed, "Very interesting."

"You know, the others think you're a quiet innocent boy, but you can be quite the talkative one when you get excited," Reiner chuckled, unable to stay under control any longer. He rose from Annie's couch, bringing Bertholdt with him as he carried him to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Annie shot at his retreating back, "We still have to discuss what to do about—"

"Sorry Annie, Bertholdt and I have some unfinished business to take care of," Reiner said over his shoulder as Bertholdt clung onto his neck.

"And what business would that be?" Annie asked coldly as Reiner opened the door.

"What do you  _think_?" Bertholdt called out, bursting into laughter right before the door shut behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys enjoyed! please remember to comment! 
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	11. Every Leaf is a Flower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't any of these beautiful fictional characters, except for my OC Lukas

**Chapter 11**

**Every Leaf is a Flower**

"I'm—I'm a terrible roommate!" Armin wailed as Connie silently handed the blubbering blonde another tissue. Armin, Connie, Eren, and Sasha were sitting in Armin's room comforting him, Eren being the one who had called Armin a few hours ago explaining why Marco hadn't come back to his room in over a week.

Perhaps over the phone hadn't been the best idea, as Armin had practically went catatonic, demanding to know exactly what was going on, so after fencing, Eren, Sasha, and Connie had all gone to Armin's room to explain everything.

"Come on, you're a great roommate!" Sasha said in an attempt to cheer him up, "You're a kind person who cares a lot his well-being, right?"

"B-but, I should have known something was up," Armin moaned, "I should have noticed…"

"Armin, it wasn't your fault," Eren continued, "Nobody could have predicted that would happen to him. And you have to remember that we're college students—sometimes we're just too busy to notice what's going on around us."

Silence filled the room as Eren's statement hung in the air. It was true for the most part—they had all noticed that the demands of being a college student sometimes outweighed the demands of being a friend. It was a transition that most of them had been struggling with, abandoning social time to study or skipping meals to finish an assignment.

"Besides," Connie added, breaking the silence, "Marco has told me himself that you're one of his closest friends. If a close friend doesn't notice what's going on, then he was obviously trying to keep it a secret."

"I…I suppose that's true," Armin said uncertainly.

Suddenly Sasha's phone rang, startling the four of them. Sasha looked at the screen of her phone before making eye contact with Connie, who nodded.

"Well, um, sorry to end this awkwardly, but me and Sasha gotta go," said Connie, rising up and stretching his arms, "We'll uh…catch you guys later, okay?"

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Armin, perplexed. Connie and Sasha nervously exchanged glances once more—Sasha's face had turned inexplicably pink.

"Nowhere!" they both finally exclaimed at the same time, before dashing from Armin's dorm room.

Eren and Armin gaped at the door.

"They're in a relationship, aren't they?" Armin asked in a monotone voice.

"Well, it doesn't get more obvious than that," Eren replied in the same manner, "They really should try to keep it undercover if they're serious about keeping it a secret though…"

At "secret" Armin perked up as if he had remembered something.

"Speaking of secrets…" The blonde trailed off. Eren looked over and saw that Armin was staring intently at his hands.

"What's up, Armin?"

"Eren…you know you can tell me anything right?" Armin asked slowly. Eren nodded, confused.

"Well…then…"

"Armin, what is it?" Eren snapped, growing impatient.

"How could you make Mikasa cry?!" Armin burst out before gasping and covering his mouth.

"What…what do you…?" The brunette was stunned. "I made Mikasa cry?"

He would  _never_ —

"Mikasa told me everything," Armin explained, defeated, "about how you like Levi…"

"Oh…"

Eren honestly didn't know what to say…he hadn't counted on telling either of them, but now they both knew his biggest secret…

"Is Mikasa alright?" he finally asked in a small voice, "Armin, you  _know_ I would never make her cry on purpose."

"She seemed pretty upset," the other said softly, "Eren, I think she cares about you more than you may realize."

"I never knew…"

"But," Armin continued, "even though Mikasa may be hurting, I think she understands and accepts the fact that you like someone else, and is willing to move on if you genuinely like this guy. Do you like him?"

"I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone before," Eren said earnestly, eyes wide.

"Then Mikasa and I both agreed that no matter who you like or where you go, we're always going to be there for you," finished the blonde, before smirking. "And there's nothing you can say that's going to stop us!"

"Armin…" Eren was truly touched, "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," said Armin, "Just promise me you'll make sure Mikasa's okay. I don't think you have to apologize to her for liking Levi, but I  _do_ think she deserve a little reassurance that things are still okay between you and her… I don't want the three of us to ever have to separate because of something like this."

"Of course," said Eren, before his phone buzzed.

"Great," he groaned, eyes scanning the text that Jean had sent him and ignoring Armin's concerned glance, "Just great…"

* * *

_Hey Eren, could I possibly have the room to myself today? Marco's coming over, and…well…you'd really be doing me a favour. – Jean_

_I guess that's okay. Tell him I hope he feels better and that we all miss him in fencing. Oh, and Armin's really worried about him. –Eren_

_I'll tell him. Thanks! I owe you one, roomie! –Jean_

_Please don't call me that – Eren_

"Great, we have the room to ourselves!" Jean exclaimed, doing a little victory dance as he read Eren's text. Marco chuckled from where he sat on Jean's bed, taking a sip of the tea that Jean had made him. The two had just gotten back from Marco's first counseling session at the Karanese School of Medicine and it had gone surprisingly well. The counselor had been a kind androgynous-looking person named Nanaba who not Hanji, but Mike Zacharias had recommended them to see. Nanaba had even been able to assist Jean with his overwhelming feelings of guilt about the incident, helping him to realize that his guilt may have been based on a fear of not being able to protect someone from getting hurt. Nanaba had finished the session by quietly asking Jean to keep an eye on Marco and report any changes in behavior.

However, there was another matter to take care of now, Jean remembered as he sat down next to Marco, hugging a pillow to his chest. Neither of the two had addressed it yet, but both of them had indirectly admitted their love to the other.

"Marco, I want to make sure of something," Jean began slowly. Marco nodded, setting his cup of tea down on Jean's desk and swinging both of his legs onto the mattress.

"During the football game," Jean recounted, "in the locker room…when you kissed me on the cheek. What did that mean? Truthfully?"

Marco pursed his lips with a thoughtful expression.

"How do I put this?" the freckled freshman replied, "I guess…well, it means what you told Hanji when she asked if you loved me."

"You mean you  _heard_ that?!" Jean exclaimed, incredulous, "But you were asleep!"

"Well…not quite," Marco said teasingly, "It was your voice that woke me up." He chuckled again when Jean groaned, "What am I going to do with you, Marco?"

For a moment they sat like that, just enjoying each other's presence and letting the events of their counseling session settle into their memories.

"I have one more question," Jean said, this time gulping.

"Yes?"

Jean fidgeted with the pillow in his hands.

"Marco…can I k-kiss you?" he finally asked. To his shock, Marco nodded and closed his eyes, a light blush tainting his cheeks in anticipation.

Five seconds passed.

"What's the matter?" Marco finally asked when Jean didn't move.

"I've…well, I've never done this before with…with a guy," Jean mumbled, heat blooming across his cheeks like wildfire, "I guess I froze. I'm not sure what..." He trailed off, looking anywhere but Marco's face.

"What to do?" Marco asked, tilting his head. Jean choked.

Why did he have to look so  _adorable!?_

His heart rate sped up considerably when Marco placed a hand on his cheek, caressing it gently.

"You don't have to worry about a thing," he said warmly, "I'll teach you how to do everything. Just stop me if I'm doing anything that makes you uncomfortable, okay?"

Jean gulped, but leaned into the other's touch.

"Okay."

"Good," Marco giggled, before he sat up in Jean's hold, placing his hands on the other's shoulders, his expression suddenly transforming into something more… _sensual._

"Kiss me, Jean," he said, looking right into Jean's eyes.

And Jean was more than happy to oblige. He leaned forward and captured the freckled boy's lips with his own. Marco hummed happily against his lips as Jean increased the pressure, beginning to take more liberties with his mouth.

"Mmh—use your tongue," Marco breathed, his eyes half-lidded. Jean blushed, but tried his best, darting out his tongue to swipe across Marco's bottom lip. The other opened his mouth, and Jean hesitantly tasted the other boy, his tongue shy and barely caressing Marco's. Marco allowed Jean to continue his actions for a little bit before he took the lead, taking Jean's tongue between his teeth and sucking on it gently. The ex-football player moaned, relishing in the feeling of Marco's tongue rubbing against his own before he pulled back for air, their lips separating with a light smack.

As Jean took in deep breaths, he looked at Marco, who had flushed cheeks and a string of saliva hanging from his lips.

That was  _hot._

He leaned in again, this time pushing Marco down onto the bed as he ravaged the other's mouth. He took control, sucking Marco's tongue as the other mewled with pleasure. One hand found its way to Marco's hair, his fingers slowly running through dark locks that contrasted with his face.

Breathing was such a bother sometimes.

Jean resurfaced, gasping. Marco was slightly panting as well as he stared up with utter adoration at Jean.

"That was amazing," he breathed, " _You're_  amazing, Jean."

"T-Thanks," the other stuttered, "What…what should I do now?"

"W-well," Marco stammered back, "There are…there are a number of things you can do…um, let's start with this."

Jean blanched when Marco suddenly began tugging the bottom of his shirt up.

"What are you doing?!" Jean squawked as his shirt was firmly pulled over his head, exposing his chest to the cool air.

Marco flushed a deep red.

"I thought you might be uncomfortable doing this without having done it before, so I—I was going to demonstrate."

_Demonstrate?!_

"Okay…" he said nervously. Marco looked a little hesitant, but nevertheless reached out a put a hand on Jean's toned chest, letting it wander over his muscles before travelling up to his shoulder, where it rested. Marco slowly leaned forward so that his head was right below Jean's chin, before pressing a light kiss to Jean's collarbone.

Jean was pretty sure he now held the record for the fastest amount of time it took goosebumps to spring up all over his body. Marco's lips brushed over his collarbone once more before moving downwards to where they ghosted over a nipple.

"W-whoa," Jean mumbled, "Hang on a minute." Marco looked up, eyes sparkling with concern. Jean sighed, and gently removed Marco's hands from his shoulders.

"Um…let me try," Jean barely whispered before pushing Marco on the bed once more and climbing on top of him. Jean leaned down, kissing Marco's neck, using one hand to brace himself on a pillow while the other hand began moving across the freckled chest in front of him, fingers gently grasping a nipple. Marco mewled, arching up into Jean's touch. Taking that as a good sign, Jean moved his lips down to Marco's collarbone, pressing a kiss to it before gently sucking on the skin around it.

"Ah!" Marco gasped, "J-Jean, that's…nnn…"

"Did I do something wrong?" Jean asked, confused.

"N-No…that felt really good…" Marco was trembling slightly, "If you don't mind…please do it again."

"O-Okay," Jean stuttered as he obeyed Marco's wish, sucking on his collarbone once more and darting a tongue out to lick it. Marco moaned and Jean took that as a cue to go further. He moved his head down so that it hovered over Marco's other nipple. Blushing, he bent down and took it in his mouth.

"Ah!" Marco whimpered, "It feels so good…" Jean began to suck on it lightly, using his other hand to keep pinching and rolling around the other nipple. Marco had turned into a quivering mess, raising a hand to cover his mouth as he moaned in earnest. Jean released the nub from his mouth with a faint pop, and began to press butterfly kisses down his stomach before dipping his tongue into his navel.

At this point Jean became painfully aware of how aroused he was, his member aching to be released from his pants, and found that Marco was in the same condition. Without thinking his fingers began to creep under the hem of Marco's boxers when Marco suddenly felt a foreboding sense of déjà vu.

_Marco felt the body above him shift, a hand trailing down his chest, past his navel and to the hem of his boxers._

_No!_

_"Oooh, I see you got a little excited there huh?" the voice teased as a finger poked the peak of the tent that had formed in his boxers. Marco struggled weakly as he felt the hand slowly pull down his boxers, releasing his arousal from its hot confines. To his utter shame, precum was already dribbling down from the tip._

_"Turned on by another guy…how shameful," the voice doted, as nimble fingers nudged his member before grabbing it tightly, causing more tears to slip from Marco's eyes._

Jean noticed that Marco had frozen, eyes wide and unblinking.

"Marco, what's wrong?" he asked. Marco shut his eyes, whimpering as his breathing turned into sharp pants.

"Marco, Marco, stay with me," Jean pleaded, recognizing the signs of someone going into panic when he saw them. He clambered off of the other boy and that seemed to help. Marco's breathing had returned to normal again, but his eyes were still shut. Jean sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the other in concern.

"Marco?" he ventured once more. Marco opened his eyes and Jean's heart skipped a beat when he saw tears shimmering in those beautiful sad orbs.

"J-Jean…"

In an instant Jean had wrapped the other in his warm embrace, feeling the other shake as a few stray tears slid down his cheeks.

"I'm s-sorry," Marco said weakly, "I don't…it… _he_  did this to me, Jean."

"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay," Jean said quietly, stroking the other's back, "We'll go slow."

"But I wanted…Jean, I want this so much but I just  _can't…_ "

"We can stop. We don't have to go any further. Whatever you want," the other murmured. Marco took a few deep breaths before leaning backwards, gently pulling Jean down with him. Puzzled, Jean raised his head to look at the other. His eyes were still red, but they shined with a new determination.

"I'm not…" Marco swallowed before continuing, "I'm not ready for  _that_  yet, but we can at least do this."

At "this" Marco shifted his hips upward, his crotch rubbing against Jean's. Jean quickly got the idea and pressed down, returning the friction. Marco mewled, closing his eyes and letting the pleasurable sensation take over him. He wrapped his arms around Jean's shoulders, holding him close as Jean breathed into his neck.

Jean shifted his hips again, with a little more force, and that was enough to give Marco the confidence to continue. The two established a rhythm, Marco snapping his hips up to meet Jean's each time they moved; the heat between their bodies growing more and more as clothed arousals pressed against each other again and again.

"Ah, J-Jean!" Marco gasped, "I'm gonna…I'm gonna…AH!"

With a final moan he arched and released, his essence staining his boxers. Jean closed his eyes and grunted as he too came, pressing down against Marco as much as he could as their exhausted members rubbed once more. Jean collapsed on top of Marco, freckled hands coming to embrace his shoulders as the two reveled in the post-climatic sensation.

"That…that was perfect," Marco panted, giving Jean a quick peck before snuggling into a toned chest, "I wouldn't mind doing that again and again….and again…"

"Mmm, stop Marco, I won't be able to stop next time," Jean groaned, exhausted. Marco giggled, running his fingers through Jean's hair.

"You know, I'm really glad you quit football," he whispered, "Because now I get to see the real you. And when I see the real you…I'm not as afraid."

Jean simply pressed a kiss to the top of Marco's head and held him closer.

* * *

Droplets of sweat ran down Levi's cheeks as the fencing captain thrust his blade into the practice dummy set up in the middle of the room. His ankle had finally healed, and today he didn't care about practicing his technique or advances. No, today was practice session in which Levi would release the pure  _malice_  that had been residing within him for the past week since the incident occurred. Panting, he yanked the blade out, eyes trained on the dummy which had a picture of Lukas' face taped onto it as he backed, up only to lunge once more.

However, this time another blade stopped him. Levi froze as the clang of the two blades echoed in the empty studio. He looked up to meet a masked face staring back at him. Levi retreated slowly, his eyes never leaving the masked figure.

"Who are you?" he demanded sharply but the other didn't answer; instead the person bent their knees slightly, assuming the  _en garde_  position.

"So that's how you want to play, huh?" the captain muttered, eyes narrowing, "Very well, then."

He stepped back, also getting into the  _en garde_  position. A moment passed before the two of them sprang into action, the sound of feet scraping the floor filling the air as the two of them danced. The stranger was the first to lunge, but Levi retreated gracefully before advancing himself. This guy was good.

"You know, it was a pretty shitty move to make me fence without my mask on," the captain said, parrying another blow, "But I guess that means you don't underestimate me, huh?"

The masked figure was silent, advancing forward. Levi noticed that the stranger was holding a sabre blade, and gasped. Nobody else on the fencing team could fence sabre unless it was…no, it couldn't be!

But the stranger's delicate footwork gave it away.

_"Erwin?!"_ Levi exclaimed and lunged, having enough of this nonsense. The stranger was unable to bring his blade up in time and Levi was able to touch the tip of his blade to the other's chest. The other raised his hands in defeat before pulling off the mask, revealing light blonde hair and those signature eyebrows.

"It looks like that injured leg didn't hold you back, huh?" Erwin chuckled, a small smile on his face as he swept aside the hair sticking to his forehead, "You fence with more conviction now."

"What are you doing here?" Levi demanded sharply, pressing his blade into Erwin's chest and causing it to bend, "No one has seen you for weeks."

Erwin flinched and sighed, reaching up with a gloved hand to gently remove the blade. "You're going to give me a bruise, you know."

"Yeah, well, that's nothing compared to what you did to me," Levi muttered, walking to the other side of the room to store his blade in its cupboard, "Now answer my question, idiot."

Erwin was silent for a moment before saying, "I came here to inform you that Lukas has been expelled. I thought that would be something you'd like to know…considering what he did to all of us."

Levi bristled at the mention of Lukas' name but kept his anger under control. There was no need to get angry anymore.

"He was your cousin, right?" he recalled, "That must have been hard for you."

"On the contrary, it was quite easy," Erwin said darkly, "His actions were unforgivable. He may be family, but I consider the members of fencing to be more of a family to me that he ever will."

"So you do have a heart," Levi mumbled. "What exactly happened?"

So Erwin recounted what had occurred in the office of Dot Pixis only one day ago:

_Erwin maintained a perfect poker face as he led Lukas into the office of the dean._

_"You know, you don't have to be so harsh," his cousin said, noting how tightly Erwin was gripping his arm. Erwin was silent and opened the door._

_Inside the office Dot Pixis was sitting in the dean's chair, his hands folded on the dark glossy mahogany desk. Next to him was a computer, its screen directed towards them so they could see the face of…_

_"Dean Zackly?" Lukas exclaimed in surprise. The dean of the university, Darius Zackly, was staring back at them…and he did not look happy._

_"You are in no position to speak," Dean Zackly said quietly. Even though his voice was soft, it certainly had enough power and authority to shut the football player up. Erwin felt his cousin begin to tremble._

_"I'm a very busy man," Zackly began, "I was in the middle of a very important conference when I got a call from Mr. Pixis. Can you imagine what he told me?"_

_Lukas shook his head, unable to speak._

_"Answer me," the dean ordered in a deep voice._

_"N-no, sir, I don't know what he t-t-told you," Lukas stuttered._

_"He told me that not only had you raped a student, you also insulted and attempted to fight with the captain of the school's fencing team," Zackly said, "He also told me that you had illegally used 3D Maneuver Gear during the freshmen orientation. Are you aware that most of these offenses could land you in prison for the rest of your life?"_

_"You-you don't…you don't…"_

_"I DON'T WHAT, MR. SCHMIDT? I DON'T WHAT?" Zackly thundered, the voice from the computer filling the whole room._

_"You have no proof of any of these things!" Lukas yelled, ripping himself from Erwin's grasp, "You can't…you can't touch me without any proof!"_

_"Oh, I can assure you that's quite the contrary," Dot Pixis interrupted, standing up to open one of the desk drawers. He pulled out a tiny flash drive._

_"You may not be aware of it, but there are cameras all over this school," Pixis said, "Including cameras in the fencing studio and in the Trost School of Engineering. These cameras recorded both the fight in the fencing studio and you with several members of the football team stealing 3D Maneuver Gear. As for your unspeakable acts towards Mr. Marco Bodt, our students in the Genetics department were able to find footprints of your DNA on…and in….Mr. Bodt's body."_

_"As you may have figured out by now, you are going to be expelled," Dean Zackly continued from the computer, "There will be charges pressed against you as well."_

_"You can't expel me!" Lukas hissed, "I'm the best football player you've got! You have no team without me! The reputation of the university will crumble-!"_

_"DO YOU REALLY THINK I CARE ABOUT THE FOOTBALL TEAM?!" Dean Zackly yelled, his face turning red, "What YOU have done violates every single academic and ethical code this university upholds! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE."_

_Erwin flinched. Lukas bowed his head._

_"There is one more thing," Dot Pixis sighed looking at Erwin, "We are aware that Lukas is under the care of you, Professor Erwin Smith, and we are required to ask you if you are in favour of his expulsion. You will not have to be involved in any police matters, but we need confirmation from you before we sign the papers."_

_"Erwin…Erwin, please…you're my cousin," Lukas begged, turning around to face the taller blonde, "Come on, you know what we've both had to go through to get here!"_

_Erwin looked Lukas dead in the eye._

_"You have my approval," he said coldly, "Lukas will no longer be in my care as of today."_

_He turned on his heel and left the room, unable to look at the look of utter helplessness his last blood-relative wore on his face._

"I have broken all any ties with Lukas," Erwin finished, "He is no longer any of my concern." Levi didn't say anything and Erwin continued with what had been ailing him for weeks.

"Levi, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, and I can only hope what I did in the dean's office can at least be a fraction enough for you to forgive me."

Levi's expression may have deemed unreadable to most, but Erwin caught the slight twitch of his brow as Levi stepped forward.

"Of course I forgive you, idiot," the raven-haired finally sighed, leaning forward to wrap his arms around his ex-boyfriend's chest in a rare moment of weakness…no,  _affection._  "But you still owe me for dying all of my clothes magenta."

Erwin chuckled, rubbing Levi's head softly as the two shared what seemed like their last true embrace of their once-was relationship.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mikasa had returned to her room from a jog and was met with a hand-sewn… _something_ on her bed, a note tied to its arm reading:

_Hi Mikasa, do you think you can forgive me yet? ^^; -Eren_

_P.S. Not sure if you can tell, but this is a teddy bear…I made it myself. Yeah, I'd punch me too._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! Next chapter will have a LOT of Eren x Levi stuff, so stay tuned!
> 
> And thanks so much for the comments! Do keep them coming; they motivate me so much!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	12. Touché

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance...this chapter was supposed to be the giant LexixEren chapter but I needed to throw a few plot twists at you before I get to the fluffiness. Bear with me, readers! ^^;
> 
> Without further ado I present to you Chapter 12!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Lukas. Sorry guys, he's still in the story.

 

**Chapter 12**

**Touché**

_"Eren! I've missed you so much. How is everything going? Are you sleeping and eating well? How are Mikasa and Armin?"_

"Hi, Mom. I'm doing well, thanks. I'm eating and sleeping as well as any college student can, I guess. Mikasa and Armin are doing very well. Armin's really making a name for himself on the soccer team but I think he wants to switch to fencing, like me. Mikasa's also—"

_"You joined fencing? Ohh I'm so happy to hear that you're doing something worthwhile in your free time! You know, your father used to fence when he was your age. You'd make him proud."_

"He did? Ha, I never knew. Speaking of Dad, have you heard-?"

_"Let's not talk about that, dear."_

"R-right. Sorry. Um, what was I saying…oh, yeah! Mikasa is also doing very well, and she's also doing fencing—heh, you should have seen her a few weeks ago. Our fencing captain injured his leg, but Mikasa came right over and helped patch him up. For winter break she's going on a research study trip."

_"Oh, I'm so happy for her! It seems pre-med was the perfect field to study for her. She makes me proud. Speaking of fields of study, have you…?"_

"Um…no, I haven't chosen a major yet…um…sorry."

_"Oh. Well, that's okay, not everyone knows what they want to do when they first start college. What kinds of classes are you taking at the moment?"_

"Ummm Calculus, Biology, English, Introduction to Mechanics, and Ancient Titan History."

_"Very interesting! It sounds like you have a wide range of classes. What sparked the interest to take Introduction to Mechanics, may I ask?"_

"W-well, you may not know this, but Kyojin University is the only school breaking new grounds in 3D Maneuver Gear production, and…well, I thought it'd be interesting to see how it's made, and if I could use it…"

_"So you ARE interested in a major! Sounds like Engineering to me!"_

"I guess…I was interested in Engineering, but you have to have a really high GPA to get into the Trost School of Engineering…"

_"That should be no problem for you, right?"_

"W-well, not…not exactly…"

...

_"Eren."_

"I mean, I don't exactly have the highest grades…"

_"You're going to have to improve them, of course."_

"Right! Right…but I was always thinking…if it didn't work out, I could always join the M-Military Police. I-I would have a g-greater understanding of 3D Maneuver Gear by then—"

_"Out of the question."_

"But Mom-!"

_"Eren, we've talked about this! You are not joining the Military Police! You need to get a proper education. Now I don't want to talk about this any longer."_

"I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry. When should I come home for break?"

_"I actually wanted to talk to you about that…you see…Eren, it's just not going to work."_

…

_"Eren?"_

"W-what? What do you mean? Do they know what you have yet?"

_"With your father gone and what's been going on around here lately, it looks like I'm going to be in the hospital longer than I thought…I had some tests done recently but I'm still waiting for the results. You're going to have to find a friend to stay with."_

…

_"Eren."_

…

"I'm glad I was able to talk to you. I love you, Mom."

_"Now what are you-!"_

Click.

Eren bit back sobs as Mikasa rubbed his back, throwing his phone across the room to where it hit the door with a crack before sliding down onto the carpet.

* * *

"Come on, give me more than that!" Reiner roared as Annie's sabre was expertly deflected by Bertholdt's, "You wanted to do sabre, right? You're going to need to be faster if you have any hopes of competing in the spring!"

"Cut the crap!" Annie hissed as she quickly retreated, her breaths short and ragged. She adjusted the mask on her head before advancing once more.

"She's good, but she lacks precision," Rico murmured from beside Reiner as she watched Bertholdt parry yet another attack, "She's driven to attack by the wrong reasons."

"She used to be an épée fencer," Reiner commented, "So she's used to thrusting blindly into attacks, since the whole body is the target in épée fencing. I moved her up to sabre a few months ago, but it seems she's still getting used to the blade."

"Annie, try a flunge!" Rico called out.

"A what?" the blonde called back, parrying a blow from Bertholdt.

"A flying lunge!" Reiner answered, "Instead of running at him, try to jump and land a point!"

Annie nodded before advancing on guard. She narrowed her eyes, trying to anticipate Bertholdt's next move, looking for an opening. He began to advance as well, but his blade hand had moved slightly off centre from his body, exposing his torso. Annie took the initiative and lunged with her front foot before completely taking off into the air. She thrust forward, her eyes on the prize before…

"OUCH! Oh my gosh, Annie, not so hard!" Bertholdt whined, taking off his helmet and unzipping his fencing jacket to reveal a purple bruise blooming right above his stomach, "Great, it's gonna take weeks for this to heal!"

Annie blinked.

Did she just score a point against Bertholdt? Bertholdt, the fencing prodigy freshman who had joined the Garrison team within a month of first picking up the blade?

"Good job, Annie," Rico commented, his lips forming a small grin, "I knew you had it in you."

"It seems the flunge is the perfect attack for you," Reiner continued, handing Annie a bottle of water, "I guess unleashing the aggression you're used to attacking with in épée comes in handy with this move."

"It would seem so," Annie responded slowly. For once, she allowed a smile to grace her features before she took a swig of water.

However, the four of them froze when they heard the sound of muted clapping coming from the door of the Garrison fencing studio.

"Bertholdt, Annie, hide!" Reiner hissed as he yanked his sabre from his own sheath, Rico following suit. Bertholdt grabbed Annie's hand and the two of them managed to dive behind a stack of practice mats just in time before the door swung open, revealing a figure dressed in all black.

The person was fully equipped with 3-D Maneuver Gear, twin blades pointed and gleaming in each hand.

"Garrison practice sessions are strictly off-limit to the public," Rico hissed as she and Reiner began to approach the figure, "How did you get in here?"

The figure said nothing and slammed the door shut.

"OI! Answer her!" Reiner demanded, "And while you're at it, tell me how you got your hands on 3-D Maneuver Gear. It's illegal to handle such equipment unless you have access to the Trost School of Engineering!"

Again, no answer. But this time the figure used one of the hands holding a blade to tug down the bandana covering the bottom half of its face, revealing a crescent moon-shaped scar on the person's chin.

Bertholdt let out a small gasp of pain, causing Annie to look over. Had she really bruised him that hard? However, when she saw his expression it turned out the gasp was one of shock, not fear.

"What is it?" Annie asked as Rico and Reiner's looks turned more predatory. They both began to run towards the figure, sabres extended.

"It's Lukas Schmidt!" Bertholdt whispered back frantically, "How the heck did he get here?!"

Before Annie could even fathom a response, a shout of pain echoed across the room. Reiner had successfully dodged a deadly swing from Lukas and was now pinning the football player to the floor. His hood had fallen off, the white-blonde hair strewn across his face confirming his identity.

"Rico! Call for Erwin!" Reiner barked as Lukas struggled in his hold. Rico nodded and dropped her sabre to run out of the studio.

"Shit!" Bertholdt cried, "He still has his blades!"

"What are you doing!?" Annie yelped as Bertholdt suddenly bounded over the mats, revealing his location.

"Not so fast!" Lukas hissed, pressing a button on the handle of his blade. In a flash two grapple hooks had sprung from his waist, attaching themselves to a bar on the ceiling. Reiner only had a split second to clamber off of the football player before Lukas flew into the air, landing right behind Bertholdt. The freshman was too stunned to speak as Lukas stood behind him and lifted the blades to his neck.

"Bertholdt!" Annie cried, also revealing herself.

"Annie, stand back!" Reiner roared, causing Annie to freeze in her tracks.

"Stay where you are or else the freshman gets it!" Lukas hissed pressing one of the blades into Bertholdt's neck, "Drop your blade!"

Reiner dropped his blade with no hesitation, the loud clang of metal hitting the floor echoing about the room.

"Reiner, I can't find-!" Rico shouted as she burst through the door, but then froze upon realizing the scene she had just stumbled into.

For a moment time stood still.

"What do you want?" Reiner asked slowly, "The situation is obviously to your advantage at this point. Just let Bertholdt go and tell us what you want. There is no need to harm him."

Lukas was breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face. His jaw was trembling and his eyes betrayed his menacing façade.

He was scared shitless.

"I want…I want to join the Garrison Fencing Team!" he finally gasped, kicking Bertholdt to the floor and dropping his own blades, "Let me join…please!"

"State your reasons," Reiner replied, earning a noise of confusion from Rico.

"Reiner you're not seriously  _considering—_!"

"Let the boy talk!" the junior shot back, "State your reasons, Lukas!"

"My reasons are my own," the other hissed, "I got kicked out of Kyojin. I can be a valuable asset to you guys, I swear! You've seen what I can do with 3-D Maneuver Gear. I can fence! I'll help you guys beat the Recon Fencing Team! And if you don't let me join….I'll make you regret it! I have connections with people who can make your life a  _living hell_!"

"He's not giving us much of a choice," Rico murmured.

Reiner sighed.

He was seriously getting too old for this shit.

"Alright, just calm down," he said, "And tell me what blade you were thinking of."

Lukas had certainly done his research. He knew which blade was which, the fighting styles associated with each…and which one had the deadliest consequences if something went wrong.

"I'm going to fence sabre," he said, lips forming a feral grin.

* * *

Enter finals week.

To say that Eren depended on coffee to keep sane was an understatement. Please, he practically  _lived_  off of it at this point. For his finals, he was required to write a 20 page paper for his English class, take a 2 hour test on Ancient Titan History, plan and complete an entire lab for Biology, take a 2 hour Calculus test, and be able to take apart and identify each part of 3-D Maneuver Gear and put it back together again for his Introduction to Mechanics test.

Oh, and all of these tests and exams were crammed into three days, as per the university exam schedule. And unfortunately, Eren had more than one exam on each day.

"Eren, do you need help with anything?" Armin asked as he began putting folded clothes into a suitcase, "Math and science are my forte, you know…" Eren grunted and erased an equation he had been working on with a little too much force, ripping a hole in the paper.

"It's just not fair," he groaned, "How am I supposed to remember all of this stuff? I don't even remember what I ate for breakfast this morning!"

"All you have to do is prioritize which areas you're the least comfortable in," the blonde explained.

"You mean all of them."

"Um…..yeah."

"Easy for you to say," the brunette replied, "You and Mikasa are already done with finals! How is that even possible!?"

"Well…Mikasa has that research trip she's going on, and I have a flight to catch for my winter abroad," Armin reminded him, "so we had to take our finals early. Have you been able to find someone to stay with yet for the break?"

"Not yet…" Eren began before his phone buzzed.

_Important fencing meeting! Please be in the fencing studio in 30 minutes—we have to discuss competitions next semester and how new members of the Recon Fencing Team will be chosen. Feel free to bring anyone who is interested in joining the club. DON'T BE LATE! –Hanji_

"Will I never get to study?" Eren growled as he shrugged on a jacket, "Armin, you're joining fencing next semester right? We have a meeting to go to."

30 minutes later the two freshmen had arrived at the fencing studio. Eren opened the door and immediately walked into a well-toned chest. Blinking, Eren slowly raised his head to meet the confused glance of...

"Professor Erwin?"

Images of the professor in a Totoro costume immediately ran through the brunette's mind and he had to stifle a laugh before stepping back and saying, "It's good to see you back here."

"Yes, we're all absolutely thrilled that this idiot returned back to fencing, although he really didn't have the right to miss five practices in the first place" drawled Levi who stepped out from behind the blonde before pinpointing his gaze onto Armin, who visibly flinched. Eren noticed that Levi's tone of voice betrayed his true attitude towards Erwin—there was a new softness in his eyes that would have escaped Eren's attention if he hadn't been looking.

 _They made up,_  he thought sadly. Wait. He shouldn't be sad, right? As long as Levi was happy…

"You look familiar, shrimp…" Levi said to Armin, snapping Eren out of his trance. The raven-haired captain put a hand on Erwin's arm (Eren internally fumed) before asking, "Who are you, bowl-haired brat?"

"This is my friend, Armin Arlert," Eren answered instead with a little too much force in his voice, "He wanted to join fencing next semester."

Levi removed his hand from Erwin's arm (to Eren's relief) and approached Armin, scrutinizing him carefully.

"You're a soccer player, aren't you?" he asked. Eren's jaw nearly dropped to the floor as Armin began stumbling over his words in an attempt to ask how Levi could possibly know something like that.

"It's the way you hold yourself," Levi answered, interrupting the bumbling bowl-haired blonde, "you tend to lean more on your left leg, which tells me that you tend to use your right leg more often than not. When you walk your strides seem to be more measured than usual, which tells me you are involved in an activity which requires extremely good coordination between your two feet. Soccer involves a lot of strategy, does it now?

"Y-yes, I um…that's actually why I joined soccer in the first place, because I feel my strengths lie within analyzing the strategy of the game," Armin answered, "And I figured that there are a lot of strategies that can be applied to fencing…in other words, I thought it would be a good sport to challenge me intellectually, um…sir!"

"You'd make a good foil candidate," Erwin said softly from behind Levi, who nodded in agreement.

"Normally we wouldn't take new recruits when competitions are so soon, but you'll be an exception," Levi said, "You have great potential. I'll give you the break to study up on foil fencing. You'll be given equipment to practice with. If you impress me once spring semester starts, you'll have a secure place in the club…and maybe the Recon Fencing Team as well."

At "Recon Fencing Team" Eren's heart sped up considerably. He wanted to join the Recon Fencing Team so badly, but Levi still had not moved him up to using the sabre blade. There was no chance of him making the team unless…

 _That's it! If I live with Levi during Winter Break, I'll be able to practice fencing every day!_ He grinned, realizing that maybe all of his problems could easily be solved if he just…

Wait.

_Living with Levi. Oh my g-_

"Hey guys? The meeting is starting soon," Petra said, effectively cutting through Eren's thoughts as she approached the group of men. Her eyes landed on Erwin, who offered her a small smile. Petra's cheeks turned pink as she stammered a quick hello to the professor before turning on her heel and dashing over to Hanji.

And so Eren spent the rest of the meeting ignoring Hanji's announcements about the selection process for the Recon Fencing Team and how Lukas had been expelled, instead wondering how in the world he was going to approach Levi and ask if he could spend the next month living with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. Got that chapter out of my system. I hope you all enjoyed it and I promise the next chapter will be the LevixEren stuff (I think) you've all been waiting for!
> 
> Please please PLEASEEEEE keep commenting! You have no idea how grateful I am for each comment that comes in. You guys are the reason I'm still writing this fanfic!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	13. Stains

**Chapter 13**

**Stains**

He really should have just said no.  

It wouldn’t have been that hard, right?  Just a simple, two-lettered word.

But here he was, watching the brunette stumble about with his belongings into what used to be Erwin’s room.

(Truth be told, Erwin had hardly used the room when the two of them had lived together, foregoing the solitude of one room to join the raven-haired in the other for… _activities_ , but that wasn’t something he needed to tell Eren, right?)

He took a sip of wine (he had a feeling he was going to need a lot more around the brat) and surveyed the other’s actions closely, paying special attention to the tracks of mud the other tracked into the apartment.  Oh, the brat was going to be in for a rough afternoon if he thought he could get away with leaving dirt all over what used to be a sparkling pristine white-tiled floor (and Levi had installed the tiles himself).

“I think that’s the last of it!” Eren exclaimed as he set down his last suitcase, wiping sweat from his forehead—he did _not_ look sexy while he was breathing heavily with hair matted down to his forehead with sweat, that was for sure.

 _Dammit._ Had Levi really missed the gift of…er… _companionship_ so much that he had resorted to pining over people 10 years younger than him?

Great, now he sounded like a pedophile.

“Um…are you okay?” the brunette asked, causing Levi to start—when had Eren gotten so close to him?  Concerned emerald eyes gazed into his own as Eren continued, “You look like you want to kill somebody…”

 “That’s just my normal expression,” Levi snapped before he found himself taking a step backwards, eyes widening.

_Kill._

The sound of glass shattering filled the apartment as Levi dropped his wine, bending over and putting a hand to his forehead.   Events of a regrettably unforgotten past played over and over again in his mind while his heart hammered in his chest.  Meanwhile Eren had leapt backwards to avoid stepping on any glass.  

“L-Levi?”  The raven-haired man blinked, slowly straightening up and letting the hand on his forehead drop to his side.   He winced when he saw the mess he had made on the floor, but was still too much in shock to even attempt to clean up the mess.  Across from him Eren had begun to shake slightly, eyes wide.

_Say something, say anything…_

“You’re giving me a headache, brat.”  He cursed inwardly when he saw Eren’s lower lip tremble, and searched desperately for an excuse to justify his words: “Look at all the dirt you brought onto my floor!”

Eren blanched, looking guiltily at the tracks he had made.  But his shoulders seemed to relax, to Levi’s relief.

“R-Right!  I’m so sorry!” the brunette exclaimed before letting a small laugh escape his lips, “I’ll clean this up right away!  You should…um…you should probably sit down and rest…or something.  Let me pick up the glass.”

Levi bit back a retort when he saw that Eren’s cheeks had turned pink, and sighed.  He made his way over to the couch and allowed his body to sink into the cushions.  A cold glass of water was pushed into his hands and when he looked up, he was met with a small smile from the brunette.

Damn his heartbeat for picking up in tempo.

And so Levi spent the next few minutes trying to look anywhere but at that perfect bottom that attracted his gaze each time Eren bent down to scrub a section of dirt from the floor or pick up a piece of glass.  He felt guilty for making the brat pick up his own mess, but Eren had offered, right?

Eren had offered…

 _Erwin never did anything like that for me_ , Levi thought as he finished drinking his glass of water.  True, Levi had been a very different person when he and Erwin met—Erwin had been determined to make Levi see the consequences of his actions and had never bothered to help him—but then again, Erwin had been the one to help Levi get back on his feet, albeit his uptight personality…but he would have never stooped so low to clean somebody else’s messes.   

Eren was completely different.  Eren apologized, although way too much.  Eren made many mistakes, but was willing to fix and learn from them.  Eren was curious, but didn’t judge.  He thought back to when he had injured his ankle.  Eren had run to his side and respected his wishes to not go to the infirmary.  Eren _cared_ for him and expected nothing in return.

Erwin had broken his heart, had thrown away five years that had changed Levi from a rat in the slums to a man with a college education and a new will to live.  All for his “protection.”  

But Eren…Eren was now doing the protecting, and he had no fucking clue how much that meant to Levi.

“Ah!” said brunette yelped, tearing Levi away from his thoughts.  The raven-haired whipped his head around to see Eren clutching his finger, where a drop of crimson trickled from a newly formed cut.

“Brat,” Levi sighed as he rose from the couch—

“No!  Please don’t trouble yourself over me!” Eren exclaimed, trying to hide his hand, “It’s nothing, please, I’ll take care of it…”

But it was too late—Levi had kneeled down next to Eren, ignoring the crunch of glass underneath his slippers, and took Eren’s hand in his own.  To his relief, it really was just a small cut—and Eren’s skin was remarkably soft.

For a split, split, _split_ second Levi was tempted to take the finger in his mouth to— _NOPE, NOPE, ABORT MISSION._ Levi quickly pushed _that_ scenario out of his head and rose to grab some antiseptic and a band-aid.

One month couldn’t be that bad, right?

* * *

 

WEEK ONE

Levi could not have been more wrong.

He didn’t know what it was, but something about the brunette kept drawing Levi’s gaze to the other whenever he saw him.  It had gotten to a point where Eren had begun to notice the other’s staring as well.  He had been chopping up some carrots to put in a salad (to Levi’s disbelief, Eren was a surprisingly good cook), when he suddenly halted, putting the knife down.  Levi, who had zoned out while keeping his eyes trained on the nape of Eren’s neck, failed to notice the silence that had befallen the room.

It wasn’t until Eren had nervously asked the other why he was staring at him for so long did the fencing captain snap out of his trance, tripping over his own feet as he attempted to scramble out of the kitchen.  

Two strong arms had encircled his midsection, preventing him from hitting the floor and for a split second Levi was tempted to close his eyes and relax in the all-too-missed feeling of being held by somebody else. But his defensive instincts had kicked in and Levi found himself shoving the other off of him, mumbling a quick apology before excusing himself, leaving a bewildered brunette in his wake.    

Of course, it didn’t help that Eren was also doing a shitty job of keeping his...er… _desires_ to himself.  

It had started on morning of the third day when Levi was taking a shower.  Unfortunately, the walls of the bathroom were thin, so he had absolutely no problem hearing the sudden moans that were coming from the guest room.

Being the idiot that he was, Levi thought that the brat had hurt himself, and bounded out of the shower, hastily wrapping a towel around his lower body as he wrenched open the door to the guest room.

“AHHH!” 

…

“Oi…you…” Levi’s voice trailed off as his brain finally registered what he was seeing.

Eren was sprawled out on the guest bed, his back in mid-arch and his expression a mix of shock and bliss as a certain something was staining his newly cleaned sheets…

_No._

But seeing was believing.  Eren’s pants lay discarded on the floor and the covers did a poor job of hiding the fact that his hand was wrapped around his… 

_He did NOT._

“You…” Levi began, mouth dry.  The brunette also seemed to register what was going on and yanked the covers to conceal his naked lower body.  

“Levi!  W-what are you d-d-doing h-here?!” Eren squeaked, finally finding his voice.  His cheeks were still flushed a deep red, and he seemed to have trouble breathing properly, as indicated by the heaving of his chest.

“You were…” Levi answered, still in shock, “I heard you…I thought you were in pain.”

Oh, but Eren seemed to be in anything BUT pain.

He saw Eren’s eyes scan his body and he started.  Right.  He was still half-naked and soaking wet…Wait, shouldn’t he be more worried about his _sheets!?_   Something inside of him snapped and he found himself suddenly adopting a more deadly tone as he demanded, “And just what were you doing _jerking off in_ _my bed!?”_

“I’m sorry!” Eren cried out, yanking the covers up even more to hide his face, “You were in the shower…and I thought…”

“You thought I couldn’t hear you,” the other finished, “Unfortunately, the walls in this apartment are quite thin, so I can assure you…I heard _everything.”_

He heard a moan of terror come from underneath the sheets and he sighed, making his way over to sit on the bed.  At this point he didn’t care if he was dripping water all over the floor.  Eren squeaked when he felt the extra weight sink into the bed but said nothing.

“So…who was it?” Levi ventured.

“W-What?”  Eren lowered the covers a little bit to peek at the fencing captain.

“Who uh…were you thinking of?”--this time a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I’m not sure that’s any of your busi—!”

“Was it Mikasa?” the raven-haired asked, allowing a smirk to tug at the corners of his lips.

“NO!” Eren exclaimed, throwing the covers down.  When Levi cast a pointed stare at the other’s chest he blushed and stammered, “I would n-never think of _her_ in that way…”

Levi didn’t miss the added emphasis on _her._   And the way Eren’s eyes seemed to be following the rivulets of water tricking down his pale chest… 

_OH._

A lightbulb suddenly went off in the raven-haired man’s head.  

So Eren was into… _oh._

Levi was extremely grateful for the towel around his waist at this point, as it was able to hide a certain part of his anatomy that suddenly sprung to life.  Thinking of no way to continue the conversation he sighed and stood up, making sure the towel was secure around his waist.  “You’re going to have to wash those sheets, shitty brat.   And keep it down next time.”

With that he left Eren where he was, closing the door behind him.

_Wait.  I said next time, didn’t I?_

Levi slapped himself on the forehead.

_What is WRONG with me?_

* * *

 

WEEK TWO

The second week of winter break greeted Levi in the form of a panicked brunette effectively waking him up by kicking down the door to his bedroom.

“Levi!” Eren exclaimed as Levi blinked the sleep out of his eyes, “There’s something wrong!  Everything is white!”

“What are you talking about, idiot?” Levi grumbled.  Eren had interrupted a _very good_ dream Levi had been having about said brunette—and the real Eren was not measuring up to dream Eren’s standards.

“Just look!”  Eren proceeded to yank open the curtains in the room, blinding Levi momentarily.  When his eyes adjusted, he took a moment to survey the outside world, and prepare for the huge migraine that was about to hit his head.

“It’s snow,” he deadpanned.  Great.  Now he wouldn’t be able to take a simple walk without contracting frostbite.

The other blinked.  “Snow?” 

Levi raised his eyebrow.  The brat couldn’t be serious, could he?  But Eren’s confused blinking eyes confirmed the worst.

“You’ve _never_ seen snow before?”

“N-No…”

Whoop-de-fucking-doo.

“I guess it can’t be helped then,” Levi responded, sitting up and stretching his arms—good _lord_ Eren had to start working on not making his staring so…obvious—he rose from the bed, adding, “I have nothing better to do today, so why don’t we take a walk?  I could use the exercise anyway.”

“You mean it’s not dangerous to walk outside?  Ah…um…”

Levi heard Eren trail off as the raven-haired turned around to open his closet.

“What?” he asked, rummaging around to find a warm shirt.  He began pulling it over his head when Eren spoke again.

“I hadn’t noticed it before,” the brunette began, “but what’s with that tattoo on your back?”

Levi froze.  Eren had seen it.  _Nobody_ except Erwin had seen the Wings of Freedom on his back, the grim reminder of his past that had been immortalized into his body.  He had been shirtless in front of the brat two times by now.  How could he have been so _stupid?!_

“That’s none of your business,” he finally snapped, yanking down his shirt.

“But…”

Levi growled; this was _not_ something he was prepared to talk about.  “I _said_ it was none of your business.  Now _get out_ before I do something I’m going to regret!”

He kept his back turned as Eren yelped and scrambled out of the room.  Levi waited until the brat’s footsteps faded before he slumped against his dresser, letting out a low chuckle.

“Tattoo, huh?”

\---

Levi watched, bemused, as Eren took his first steps into the snow before falling flat on his face.

“You really are hopeless,” he commented as Eren scrambled to get up, sputtering and wiping snow from his face, “Once an idiot, always an idiot.”

“Oh come on, it’s winter break!” Eren retorted, “Can’t you let up on the insults just a little bit?”

“Not in your dreams, brat.  You don’t even realize….”  Levi trailed off when he looked at Eren’s face.  The brunette’s cheeks were flushed pink from the cold, his lips forming a small pout as his brilliant teal eyes were wide open and staring into Levi’s.

“I don’t realize what?” Eren asked, tilting his head slightly.

Levi ‘s mouth was dry.  He tried to swallow, unable to tear his eyes away from the other male.

“Levi?”

“Realize…”

_Realize what?  What was I going to say…?_

“Oh, look, those kids are making snowmen!” Eren exclaimed, pointing to a group of children behind Levi, “Let’s do that too!”

And before Levi realized what was happening, Eren had dashed off to start making a giant snowball.  Levi shook his head, trying to will away the thoughts he _definitely shouldn’t be having_ before joining the freshman.

10 minutes later a crude-looking snowman was complete with stick arms, a carrot nose, and wrapped in Eren’s scarf.

“Not bad,” Levi commented as Eren let out a whoop of victory, “He kind of resembles you too.”

Eren regarded the snowman carefully, perplexed.  “Eh?  What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know,” Levi responded, “Goofy-looking eyebrows.  That stupid annoying grin.  All of the characteristics of a shitty brat.”

“Really,” Eren sighed as Levi turned to fix a few minor details, “There’s no hope for me at all, is there?”

“None at a---!”  

_WHAM._

A snowball pummeling into Levi’s back sent him reeling forward.  The shock of it was so great that Levi tripped over his own feet and landed face first in the snow.  He lifted his head slowly, spitting out snow, before his eyes fell on the brunette, who was bent over and laughing _hard_.

“I’m—I’m—That was payback!” yelled Eren as he put a hand to his stomach, “You should have seen the look on your _f--_!”

_SMACK._

Levi had expertly thrown a well-aimed snowball right into Eren’s face.

“That’ll teach you to shut up!” Levi snapped.  Ugh.  His hair was _ruined._

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve learned my lesson, _Captain_ ” Eren said, wiping the snow from his face, “Care to teach it to me properly?”

Levi’s eye twitched.  

_This idiot…does he really want to die?_

“Maybe it’s just the cold that’s getting to you, but you’re sure sounding more like a shitty brat than usual,” the raven-haired remarked as he began forming a snowball, “I’m going to wipe that stupid grin from your face once and for all.”

\---

30 minutes and 87 snowballs later Eren and Levi lay panting in the snow, completely wiped out.

“I…I underestimated you…brat…” Levi gasped, “Although that’s the first and last time I will ever say that, hopefully.”

“You’re no fun,” Eren retorted, waving his arms in the snow, “You just kept attacking; no time for retreat or anything!”

“Ah…” Levi began, and before he could stop himself he added, “I’m going back to my hold ways, huh?”

Eren sat up, brushing snow from his clothes, and looked at the other.  “What do you mean by old ways?” 

“I used to be an épée fencer,” Levi responded, “Which means no right-of-way, and no rules.”  There couldn’t be any harm in discussing fencing, right?

“What made you switch to sabre, then?  Something tells me you’d be really good at épée too…”

 “Sabre fencing was used to tame me,” Levi remarked quietly, “I fence sabre because I would lose control if I did épée.  Rules and restrictions are my only sense of structure, and without structure, I’d be a very different man than I am now.”

He closed his eyes as he heard Eren lay back in the snow.

“Levi, I just want to say that you don’t have to tell me any of this if you don’t want to,” the freshman said from beside him.

“Yeah, I know,” Levi responded, lips barely moving, “What is it that you said a few months ago?  ‘Some secrets are left better locked away’ or some shit like that?”

Eren nodded, beginning to trace tiny circles in the snow with his finger.  “Yeah…Hanji told me something like that…but I didn’t want to pry.”

“Hanji’s a good kid,” Levi said, following the movement of Eren’s finger, “But I’m afraid my box of secrets has just been unlocked.  And you know what?”

“What?”  Eren’s finger stopped.

“I don’t feel like closing the lid anymore.”

The other was silent.  The whole park was now empty, the only sounds coming from a gentle breeze and the squeaking of an old swing set.  Levi kept his breathing very soft, listening for any sort of response from Eren.

_He doesn’t realize…_

“I-I think we should get going now,” Eren said quietly, “Lying in this dirty snow might leave stains on your nice jacket, right?”

 _…how much I lo—_ Levi’s eyes snapped open.

_Love._

“I don’t care about the stains.”

Eren did a double take.  “You don’t care about the stains?  That’s unexpected, I always thought you were some sort of clean freak—Whoaaa!”

In that moment Levi had taken the initiative to shift his body and roll over so he was partially straddling the other.  He didn’t know what he was doing anymore, so he let his instincts take over.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“L-like what?”  

Damn, the cold was _really_ getting to him.

Below him the brunette had begun to pale.  “L-Levi?  What are you--!”

 “I’m a lot more filthy than you think,” the raven-haired finished before he slowly leaned down and captured Eren’s lips with his own.


	14. Throw Away the Key

**Chapter 14**

**Throw Away the Key**

WEEK 3

(Eren’s POV)

Eren was the happiest and most confused college freshman on the planet.

Ever since Levi had kissed him (Levi’s barely-there blush and blunt denial of it happening confirming that it had indeed happened) Eren had been trying his best to learn more about the fencing captain each day.  After all, Levi had stated that he was tired of keeping secrets, right?  However, the raven-haired seemed to be avoiding the topic of his past, foregoing the inevitable conversation by practicing fencing with Eren—and luckily, Levi had decided to switch Eren from the foil blade to sabre.

To Eren’s relief, picking up sabre was not as hard as he thought it might be.  Sabre fencing also followed the right-of-way rules like foil, and generally followed the same target areas—the only difference was that instead of just the torso, the target areas of sabre fencing also included the arms and the head. And instead of just using the tip to land a touch, the side of the blade could also be used in sabre fencing.

 However, the process of scoring a point was somewhat more difficult.  For Eren, he had exceeded in many defensive techniques in foil fencing that were able to transfer over to sabre fencing.   But attacking was a whole other matter.  In sabre fencing, attacking was easier than defense, but even having the will to attack was something Eren lacked—and in sabre fencing, the attacks could be so fast that a match could be over in mere seconds.

“Oi, shitty brat!  I need more conviction from you when attacking!” Levi barked as the two of them sparred, “How can you expect to score a point if all of your attacks are half-assed?!”

Eren grunted and performed a _quinte_ parry against one of Levi’s attacks at his head, stepping backwards.

“Wrong!  Push forward—I just gave you an opening!”

“I’m trying!” Eren gasped.  But Levi was just too fast.  In 10 seconds the match was over.

“Eren, you’re used to a slow fencing style with sudden bursts of speed.  But when you fence sabre, you need to be quick _all the time,_ ” Levi scolded the brunette as Eren gulped down a bottle of water.  “Your conviction to score a point can turn into speed—but you need some damn focus.”

“I know, I know…I just need to work on it,” Eren responded quietly.  

Levi rapped Eren on the head with his cardboard blade (his substitute for the real one).  

“Conviction isn’t something you can just _work on,_ ” the raven-haired said, “It’s something that you need from the second you step into the fencing studio.  Your goal is to succeed, not wimp out and only work on the defensive!  This is what fencing is all about!”

“How am I supposed to focus on attacking when all I can think about is not hurting you!?” Eren finally exploded, throwing his cardboard blade to the ground, “Have you noticed that I’ve _never_ scored a point against you before!?”

Silence from the other.  Eren didn’t dare meet his eyes.

“Oi…” Levi finally said softly, “Why are you worrying about hurting me?  I’ve been fencing for most of my life—I guarantee that you’d never be able to hurt me even if you tried.”

“No!  No…that’s not what I meant…” Eren began, “It’s something much more than that…”

“Explain.”

“I’m just not the type to walk into a situation with a goal to win or dominate...and with foil fencing I’m used to a fair paced fight—and I’m used to this approach in my own life…but with sabre the matches are just so fast with no time to think or evaluate—just acting on the will to attack.  It’s just hard to me to switch mindsets all of a sudden, especially now that…”

“…Go on.”

“It’s just that…y-you want to open up to me now…and…and-and you k-kissed me…and I don’t want to enter this situation wanting to attack you or hurt--!”

“I think you need a break,” Levi interrupted coldly before flinging a towel in his face.  “Wash up.  We need to grocery shopping because I refuse to spend another month eating TV dinners.”

“Huh?”

“…You’re not making sense anymore, brat,” the raven-haired mumbled as he turned away to leave the room, “And to be honest, you should be more worried about you not getting hurt by me.”

Eren could only lower his eyes to the ground as the footsteps of the fencing captain slowly faded away.

\---

(Levi’s POV)

“Thanks for buying all of these ingredients Levi!” Eren exclaimed as the two of them walked home from the grocery store, “I’m going to make the best pasta you’ve ever tasted.”

“Somehow I don’t doubt it,” Levi commented as he eyed the panoply of cheeses in the grocery bag.  “You sure have expensive taste in ingredients.”

The other simply beamed at him. “What was that?”

Tch.  “Nothing.”

_Damn brat and his radiating sunshine._

He _knew_ he shouldn’t have kissed the freshman.  It was irrational, immature, unfair…but it was the damn best feeling in the world, something he hadn’t felt in months.

Screw it.  He loved the idiot and was going to hell for it.

“Eren.  Buy me coffee,” he demanded as the two of them approached a coffee shop not too far from his apartment, “It’s the least you can do after wasting most of my money on exotic cheeses.”

“Eh?  But I need to save up for…” the freshman trailed off.  

Levi eyed him curiously.  “Save up for what?”

He could have sworn he saw the brunette sweatdrop.

“N-nothing!” Eren said shakily, “I’ll buy your coffee…um…you watch the grocery bags, I’ll be right back!”  And before Levi could say anything Eren had placed his bag of groceries on the ground and made a beeline towards the coffee shop.  

“Idiot.  He’s going to get the ingredients wet,” Levi muttered to himself as he picked up Eren’s bag. “Utterly hopeless.”

Oh yeah…what would Eren be saving up money for _?_   Levi wracked his brain for possible answers.  _December…December…oh, duh.  Presents.  He has friends.  Friends like presents._   Of course, December _also_ meant that Levi’s birthday was right around the corner.

 _But there’s no way Eren would know that,_ Levi thought as he spotted Eren trying to walk as fast as a person trudging through snow carrying two hot canisters of coffee could walk.  Levi accepted the coffee in silence as he handed Eren back his grocery bag.  Eren chose not to comment on the other’s silence and the two began to walk back to the apartment.  

For a few minutes, it was peaceful bliss for the two of them, the steady rhythm of feet crunching in the snow and the occasional sip of coffee accompanying the atmosphere.  Suddenly, the sound of two sets of footsteps turned into four as two people merged onto their path.  Eren’s breath hitched.  Levi, who hadn’t been paying attention, felt Eren stir from beside him.  He looked forward and was met with something much worse than he had anticipated.

In front of them Erwin was walking with Petra.  Their hands were clasped together.

Levi crushed the canister of coffee in his hand, causing scalding hot coffee to spill over his fingers.  He ignored the pain, frozen on the spot as Erwin began twisting his head to find the source of the noise.  

The sound of something dropping onto the ground broke the trance the raven-haired was in as he felt Eren’s hand latch onto his wrist and start pulling him away.  He followed wordlessly, tearing his gaze away from Erwin as the blonde finally turned around to see nothing but a cup of coffee on the ground, its contents pooling into two sets of footprints.

\---

(Eren’s POV)

The raven-haired was silent as Eren gingerly applied a soothing balm to his fingers before carefully wrapping them up in a bandage.

“Levi?” Eren said, “I put your jacket in the wash, but I’m not sure if all of the coffee will wash out…”

Levi mumbled something incoherent, gently removing his hand from Eren’s hold and flexing his fingers.  

“Ah…what did you say?” the brunette asked.

“I said I don’t care about the stains anymore,” Levi said quietly.  Eren averted his eyes to the rug he was kneeling on.  He picked at a stray piece of rug that was sticking before he remembered this was Levi’s apartment, and abruptly stopped.

“Hey, do you hate me, Eren?” Levi asked quietly, shifting so that his hair concealed his expression.  Eren’s head snapped up, looking at the fencing captain in disbelief as Levi continued, “Do you hate me because I call you an idiot, a shitty brat?  Because I push you too hard in fencing practice?  Because I kiss--!”

He froze when Eren stood up, bringing Levi with him, and wrapped his arms around Levi’s torso, guiding his head to rest on his shoulder as gentle fingers tangled in his hair.  Time stood still as pure warmth flooded the captain’s senses.  He could feel Eren’s calm heartbeat against his rapid one, could hear the slight rustling of clothes as Eren repositioned himself to fully embrace his smaller form.

“Oi, Eren…why are you doing this?” Levi asked, truly puzzled.

“I’m sorry, you just looked like you needed a hug,” Eren said calmly, “and I don’t hate you.  I don’t think I ever could.”

Levi’s breath hitched in his throat, and he was grateful his head was on the other’s shoulder so Eren couldn’t see his expression turn into one of torment.  Smaller hands came around the brunette’s body to clutch at his shirt as Levi was finally able to return Eren’s embrace.

“Sometimes I wish you did hate me,” Levi said softly—Eren noticed that his voice shook, “It would make this a whole lot easier…especially since you don’t know what I’ve done.”

Eren was silent, his fingers gently combing through obsidian locks as he ran through everything he thought he knew about the captain.  

_“You push yourself too hard, you know,” a soft voice from inside the fencing room.  Eren halted, his hand on the doorknob.  There was no window on the door so Eren pressed his face against the crack adjacent to the wall to listen._

_“I know you don’t care but…I worry about you sometimes, “the voice continued, “You can’t do everything in the world, Levi…”_

So Erwin had been concerned about Levi for quite some time…

_Levi suddenly groaned as if he were in pain, putting his other hand to his face.  He seemed to slump slightly where he stood._

_“L-Levi?” Eren stuttered from the floor, “Are you oka—”_

_“Don’t talk,” the captain hissed, putting pressure on the blade for emphasis.  After a moment, Levi sighed, finally lifting his blade._

_“You’re giving me a headache, brat,” Levi mumbled, helping Eren to his feet_.

Levi was prone to headaches?  This had happened more than once…

_Hanji sighed, setting down the beaker and raising her head to look at Eren.  Gone was the glint in her eyes and her usual smile, leaving behind a small frown and stern expression._

_“Oh, Eren…I could tell you anything else, I could, but I can’t tell you about that,” Hanji said seriously, “Believe me, I wish I could tell you, but it’s just not my place to reveal things that are better left locked away.”_

Hanji knew more about Levi’s past, but was it truly so horrible that it had to be locked away?

_“Levi…I can’t do this anymore,” Erwin said, finally breaking the silence—from what Eren could hear, Erwin was trying his best to keep his voice even.  Across the blonde, Levi had frozen, eyes now trained on the ground so that his hair hid his expression.  He didn’t utter a word.  Erwin fidgeted, but continued._

_“This whole business with your past…and what more with what Reiner and Annie have been doing…you know it’s dangerous if you’re seen with me…especially with all that’s been going on recently.  I can’t risk you getting hurt anymore.”_

It was true that Erwin had broken up with Levi because he loved Petra…but it was definitely more than that…

_“I hadn’t noticed it before,” the brunette began, “but what’s with that tattoo on your back?”_

Levi had seemed horrified that Eren had seen his tattoo.  What did it mean?

_“Sabre fencing was used to tame me,” Levi remarked quietly, “I fence sabre because I would lose control if I did épée.  Rules and restrictions are my only sense of structure, and without structure, I’d be a very different man than I am now.”_

Something bad had happened in Levi’s past...what sort of person had he been back then?

_“Hanji’s a good kid,” Levi said, following the movement of Eren’s finger, “But I’m afraid my box of secrets has just been unlocked.  And you know what?”_

_“What?”  Eren’s finger stopped._

_“I don’t feel like closing the lid anymore.”_

And finally…

_“I’m a lot more filthy than you think.”_

“Levi?” Eren murmured, “Remember how you said that you don’t feel like locking up your secrets in a box anymore?”

The other nodded within his hold, burying his head into the other’s shoulder.

“Well…I’d like to take a peek inside that box if that’s okay.”  

Levi became stiff as he suddenly tried to push Eren away, but the brunette only held on tighter.

“Listen to me.  I know that me hating you would make things easier for you, but at what cost?” Eren asked, “You’d just be lonely again, locking up your secrets and only hurting more!  Wasn’t it you who said you didn’t want to keep a lid on it anymore?  Levi, I care about you alright?  Let me do what Erwin couldn’t; let me _help_ you!” 

“You can’t help me!” Levi cried out, finally succeeding in pushing the other off of him.  Eren fell to the ground, crashing into a bookshelf behind him.  He winced and covered his head as several books fell on top of him, along with a picture frame that landed in his lap.  Eren only had a split second to look at the picture, featuring a smiling boy and girl with one arm each around a younger Levi before a gasp of pain made him look up.  Across from him Levi was clutching his head, his eyes shut and entire body trembling as he suffered from what seemed to be his worst headache yet. 

“Levi…”

“Just get out!” Levi yelled, his face screwed up in pain.  His pants turned into gasps, his expression of pain turning into one of panic as the basic function of breathing began to abandon him.  “I-I can’t…b-b-breathe…”

Eren quickly rose, shoving the books off of him as he tried to remember what Mikasa had told him to do if someone was hyperventilating.   He slowly approached the captain, who was now wheezing, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Levi, you’re okay,” Eren said, his voice as calm as he could make it considering that he was almost panicking himself.  “I’m here and you’re going to be okay.”  Levi made no movement to brush off the hand so Eren began rubbing circles into the raven-haired’s back.  Being as gentle as he could, Eren lowered the both of them so they were now sitting on the carpet.  He continued to rub Levi’s back, instructing him to breathe deeply.  The captain’s wheezes slowly turned into gasps, and then short pants.

“That’s it,” Eren reassured him, “Come on, breathe with me.”  Eren breathed in and out, in and out.  Eventually Levi began to copy him; his trembling ceased and his fingers finally stopped tearing at his hair.  Eren wrapped both his arms around the captain once more as Levi calmed down, even leaning his head on Eren’s chest.   A fine sheen of sweat shone on his forehead and cheeks, matting some of his bangs to his forehead.  Eren gently swept aside the hair and waited, never stopping his motions on the other’s back.

“Water…”Levi croaked once he was back to normal.  His cheeks were flushed, and the icy fire that usually shone in his eyes had gone out, replaced by a dark emptiness.  Eren made sure Levi was able to sit up on his own before he practically bolted to the kitchen to pour some water into a glass.  His hands were shaking so bad that water was sloshing out of the glass as he knelt down to the captain, whose eyes were trained on the floor.  

“Why do you always come back?” Levi asked weakly once he had downed the glass.  “Why can’t you just leave me and move on with your own life?”

“I…I don’t know,” Eren confessed as he took the empty glass from the other, “I just can’t abandon those who I hold dear to me.  Not after what my father did…”

Levi tilted his head.  “Father?”  Of course Levi would sound confused.  It was the first time Eren had talked to anybody about his parents besides Mikasa and Armin.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” Eren began, “But my father left us back when my mom first started to…to get sick.  He said he was going to find a cure but he never came back.”

Levi wiped his face with his sleeve and looked at Eren earnestly.  “I’m sorry.”

Eren waved it off, more concerned about Levi’s state.  “Don’t worry about it; it happened years ago.  I’m over it now.”  The other nodded and looked at the ground in a truly subdued state.  Eren sighed and reached out to gently lift Levi’s chin so that he was looking right into his eyes.  “Why can’t I help you?  I know there must be some bad things that happened in your past, but moving on is the only way you can get away from all of this.”

Levi hung his head, visibly deflating.  He noticed the picture frame on the ground; a pale hand reached out to pick it up.  He ran his fingers over the glass, tracing the smiles of the two other people in the picture.

“Some stains can’t be removed,” he finally whispered softly.  

* * *

 

WEEK 4

(Levi’s POV)

In the last week of winter break Levi finally forced himself to reveal his secrets that had been locked away for so long.  He was sick of the panic attacks, sick of the nightmares, and sick of keeping the lid on his past--Eren had hit the head on that point.  As painful as it was, he began telling Eren something about his past every day after they had sparred and had dinner.  Levi could see Eren putting together the puzzle pieces in his head, but honestly, he didn’t care anymore. 

He told the brunette _everything._

_\---_

Levi’s parents had been brutally murdered by the Military Police when Levi was just 6 years old.  It was during the aftermath of the last Great Titan War, where many families had been outcast to the slums to be sacrificed as bait while the military decided what course of action to take.  However the Titans had been defeated, leaving thousands of the surviving families meant to be sacrificed living in the shadow of what used to be a thriving civilization.

The Military Police had taken care of that, however.  They had been ordered to slaughter every family originally meant to be fed to the Titans, claiming that they were no longer useful to society and would be better off dead.  Levi had been hiding underneath a table when the Military Police reached his home.  His parents died right in front of him.

For the next few months Levi survived on his own, eating rats, rabbits, and any food he could find in other people’s houses.  Fortunately many of the dead bodies had been removed from the households, decreasing the chances of him getting sick or getting an infection.

Then he met Farlan Church and Isabel Magnolia, the two people in the picture Eren had discovered.  They were two other kids who had survived the mass murder, and the three of them joined together.  They stuck together for years, living in an abandoned church and stealing to survive.  The Military Police continued to visit the city every few months for maintenance and each time Isabel and Farlan had to hold Levi back from attacking them on the spot.  Three years passed and eventually new families began moving into the homes of the families who had been slaughtered.  The Military Police had decided to make a new city branch called Sina for the rich.  Levi had been _bloodthirsty_ when he discovered a pompous family throwing away all of his parents’ belongings and burning the furniture when they moved into his old home—Farlan and Isabel had to hold him back once more.

For the next few years things lightened up for the trio.  They now were able to steal from the rich, which meant more food, more clothes, and more weapons for defense.  Farlan and Isabel made sure that Levi never saw the Military Police when they came—they knew better now.  The three had never been caught, and for a moment, their lives were stable.

That all changed when Levi turned 12.

It was nighttime, and Farlan and Isabel had gone out to steal some jewelry from a rich family down the road.  They had the idea that maybe they could sell the jewelry for money in an underground black market that they had discovered only days, and this was their first run.  Levi had been left in the church, which was a huge mistake.

A Military Police officer had discovered the church, kicking the doors open and waking Levi from his nap.  He had grabbed his knife and hidden underneath one of the pews.  When he saw the polished leather of the person’s boots approaching him, his mind had gone into overdrive.  He had leapt from the pew, charging forward and shoving the man to the ground.

And Levi had plunged his dagger right into the man’s heart.

He hadn’t even known who the person was.  

Farlan and Isabel arrived shortly after.  They discovered Levi kneeling frozen on the ground, his hands coated in the man’s blood.  They grabbed him without a word and dragged him into the underground passage behind the church.

They refused to talk to him for two months after the incident.  They lived in the black market, selling the jewelry Isabel and Farlan had gotten for new weapons.  The process continued until the third month, when Isabel had hit the jackpot.  She had stolen a few pearls from a rich family, and apparently they were worth more than anything she had ever sold before.  She used the money to buy new weapons—but these weapons were different.

She and Farlan kicked down the door to Levi’s sad excuse for a room.  Levi was completely shocked.  Both adorned a new type of weapon in the form of twin blades attached to a sort of grappling hook system.

“We hit the jackpot,” Farlan said.

“Suit up,” Isabel added.  Those were the first words they had said to Levi in months.  Isabel had purchased one of the first prototypes of 3-D Maneuver Gear, the same weapons that had been used on the Titans many years ago. Within a month the trio had mastered the use of 3D Maneuver Gear and were considered the strongest fighters in the black market.  Levi eventually became the leader of the trio, a new bond formed on trust running strong and keeping them together.  Farlan was even able to buy an instant camera—the only picture on the camera ended up being of the three of them smiling—a rare occurrence

Then in a shocking twist of events, they had all been approached by the Military Police when Levi turned 15.  Their talents with 3D Maneuver Gear had been recognized, and they were being offered three spots in the Military Police—a life outside the underground market, a life allowing an escape to the city born upon the slaughter of innocent people.  Farlan and Isabel wanted to join on the spot, but Levi blatantly refused.  The flames of revenge had begun to die down since he was 12, but he still didn’t want anything to do with the Military Police.  

“Well I only go if Levi goes,” Isabel had proclaimed, backing away from the Military Police officer and standing by Levi.

“Same here!” Farlan had said.  

The Military Police officer had different plans.  The Military Police had really only been interested in Levi, and Isabel and Farlan were to be used as leverage to convince him to join. Levi vaguely remembered stepping in front of the two to protect them while swearing to the officer that he would never join.

“Well, then that’s too bad,” the officer had smirked.

Two gunshots rang out.

Levi whirled around to find Farlan and Isabel crumpled on the ground.  

They both had been shot in the heart.

Levi saw red once more.  He sprung forward with the intent to take the officer’s life, but was held back by more officers that had been hidden.  With no other choice, Levi activated his 3D Maneuver Gear and escaped from the scene.

Lost and alone, Levi finally descended into the depths of his own hell.  Gone was his family, gone were his friends, and gone was his last beacon of hope.  He stashed away his 3D Maneuver Gear and lived on the streets, selling drugs and even going as far as selling his body.  He was too tired to steal, so money was his only chance of getting food.   One of his clients had turned out to be a sadistic fuck, and had attacked Levi when he had refused sex, carving into his back a pair of bloodied wings and ended up raping him.  Levi had lay there, silent, as blood from his wounds seeped down his back as the man penetrated him again and again.  

It had taken almost everything Levi had to recover from that night.

Society flourished and headed towards the future while Levi was stuck in the slums of the past.  Kids walked around with phones and computers while books and newspapers were abandoned.  Nobody cared about the past anymore, only what came next.

Over those years he vaguely recalled the formation of a new organization, the Garrison, which was an organization meant to train individuals aspiring to join the Military Police to use 3D Maneuver Gear.  Levi refused to give into temptation, instead choosing to blend in with the filth of society. 

And that was where Erwin had found him on that miraculous day.  Entering his junior year at the newly established Kyojin University, Erwin had been on a trip to discover more about the last Great Titan War, and had found Levi along with his hidden 3D Maneuver Gear.  For some reason Erwin had taken him in, cleansed him of his wounds, and had given him a home.

The next five years had been spent taking care of Levi and educating him.  Erwin had never explained why he was doing what he was doing, but Levi didn’t complain.  He just couldn’t handle losing someone else.  Eventually Levi had been accepted into Kyojin University while Erwin had been accepted as a professor, and Levi had met the individuals he would later call his friends and form the Recon Fencing Team with.  To celebrate, he had decided to tattoo his back, turning the carved wings in his back into a new symbol: The Wings of Freedom.  One wing blue, another white, this symbol served as a reminder of Levi’s past, but provided him an escape to the future.  The wings were the embodiment of his life and eventually became the official Recon Fencing Team symbol.

The Garrison Fencing Team had been established as well, whose true objective was to find more trainees for the Military Police.  In the modern day and time, it was easier to attract students with a fun sport.  Levi forbade anyone from the Recon team interacting with the Garrison team, and surprisingly, his members had obeyed him without question.  When talking to Hanji about the matter later, she simply said, “It’s because we trust you, Levi.”

Trust.

Friendship.

Hope.

At last Levi was able to live once again.

\---

“Until that stupid idiot dumped me for Petra,” Levi finally finished.  It was December 24th: Christmas Eve, and the night before Levi’s birthday. 

Eren took a sip of his champagne from the crystal glass Levi had given him, and sighed, playing with some of the tinsel that now decorated the couch.  Levi usually wasn’t one for Christmas decorations but Eren had _insisted_ that Levi “get in the spirit” because apparently celebrating the arrival of an over-weight roof-diving white-bearded thief of cookies and milk was _merry._   The raven-haired poured some more champagne into his own glass.

(He really shouldn’t be giving alcohol to a minor but…screw it, it was Christmas Eve.)

“So that’s why you had that panic attack,” Eren reflected, “I could have never imagined the situations you’ve been in.”

“Neither could Erwin,” grunted Levi.

Eren glanced at him.

“Do you regret telling me all of this?” he asked carefully.

Levi put his glass of champagne down and looked Eren squarely in the eye.

“No.”  Eren opened his mouth to make a remark but Levi beat him to the chase.  “Me telling you everything over the past week has done nothing but dredge up bad memories that I thought would never resurface…but I don’t regret it.  Somehow, I feel lighter or something…so…thank you.  And what I said about you not being able to help me….I was wrong.  So wrong.  Just me telling you what happened has been more than enough for me, at least for now.”

Eren allowed that stupid grin to grace his face before it turned sour.

“I never thought the Military Police could be so cruel,” the brunette said, his eyes downcast, “Especially since I once thought of joining as well.” 

“You _what!?”_ Levi asked, completely flummoxed, “Are you truly that stupid?  They’re monsters, nothing but monsters!  They’re scum who slaughtered an entire city, whose only goal is to recruit as many new _murderers_ as possible!  And you were going to _join!?_ Here I let you live with me while the whole time you were considering joining the _Military Poli--!”_

Eren moved forward and suddenly his face was too close for comfort.  His lips brushed Levi’s for a total of 0.2 seconds before Levi backed away so quickly that he almost tumbled off of the couch.

“OI!” he shouted, hoping that Eren wouldn’t notice the blush that had spread across his cheeks like wildfire.

“Like I said!” the brunette repeated, drawing closer and closer until Levi was pressed against the corner of the couch, “I _ONCE_ thought of joining.  In fact, I was prepared to throw away my college education to join.  But not anymore!”  At this Eren straddled the captain, cupping his pale cheek with his hand.  “I’m going to stay in school and improve my grades and choose a career path and everything!  You’ve completely changed my mind, Levi, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”  

With that final sentence, he pressed his lips onto the captain’s once more.  

And this time, Levi didn’t pull away.

He welcomed Eren’s warmth as their lips meshed together’, tongues darting out and beginning a languid tango.  Eren’s hand caressed Levi’s cheek while another began running through is hair.  They broke apart, cheeks flushed, and Levi lost himself in those beautiful emerald eyes.  Eren gave him a peck on the nose, the forehead, each cheek, his lips once more, before descending down his neck.  Eren continued downwards until he hit the bottom of Levi’s v-neck.  He looked up and was met with a nod, so Eren gently divested Levi of his shirt.  He placed a kiss upon a collarbone before administering a light nip, then sucking the skin.  Levi gasped, a small whimper escaping his lips before he covered his mouth with both hands.

“Levi, you’ve opened to me up so much in the past few days,” Eren cooed, stroking his waist with his hand, “Don’t be afraid to open up now.”

“Shut up, b-brat!” Levi groaned, his breaths coming out in pants, “Just get on with it…”

Eren would have been more than happy to oblige, but the sight of Levi’s nipples stopped him abruptly.  Before he knew it he found himself clambering off of the raven-haired captain, scooting to the other side of the couch and fisting his hands in his lap.

“What. The. HELL!?” Levi exploded, sitting up and throwing his shirt at Eren’s face.

“I’m…I’m sorry!” Eren squeaked, covering his face with the shirt, “I just…I’ve never…”

Levi sweatdropped.  “Hey…brat…am I?...”

Eren peeked at the other.

“Are you telling me I’m about to take your virginity?!”

Eren nodded, and suddenly Levi felt faint.  “You shitty brat; you seemed like you knew what you were doing!”

“I thought I did!  For at least a little bit…” Eren admitted, “I’ve never gotten past kissing before!”

“Christ Eren, I am going to _kill you,”_ Levi growled before pouncing on the other and straddling him, “Just let me take the lead and for _fuck’s_ sake you had better pay attention.”

Levi began where Eren had left off, yanking off the brunette’s shirt and going straight for his chest.  He had just enough time to admire the toned tan muscles before he took a pink nub in his mouth and sucked.  Eren mewled and Levi smirked whilst pinching the other nipple with his hand.  He moved his mouth to the other, moving his hand down to lightly massage Eren’s stomach— _so he does have abs._

He continued his administrations for a bit before leaning up to suck on Eren’s neck while his hands began to unbutton Eren’s pants.  Eren lifted his legs and soon the pants were gone.  Levi took a second to remove his own pants before he dived back down, kissing the brunette deeply and laying on top of him.  He held back a gasp as warm chests met and boxered groins pressed together.  Eren had less luck, releasing a moan and arching to press himself further into the captain’s warmth.  They rocked together slowly, erections rising and rubbing until Levi had enough.  He looked at Eren for approval before he hooked his fingers underneath the waistband of Eren’s boxers and pulled down.

Well…uh…Eren certainly was… _impressive._

Eren’s face was so red Levi thought his head might literally explode.  The raven-haired averted his eyes, instead removing his own boxers and revealing himself to the brunette.  They spent the next awkward moment of silence was literally just spent _staring_ at one another.

Ah, to hell with it.  Levi grasped Eren’s manhood and gave it a good long tug.  Eren arched once more, eyes widening as he let out a long-drawn moan.

(Levi could _definitely_ get used to that).

He worked carefully, applying the right amount of pressure at the right time, his thumb occasionally rubbing over the tip.  He blanched when he felt a hand wrap around his own erection, but nevertheless allowed Eren to stroke him as well.  They established a steady tempo and began to kiss again as they stroked at the same time, each trying to mimic the other’s actions.  Eren was sloppy but gradually improved up to the point where Levi was concerned he might finish prematurely.

“One second,” Levi finally said, forcing himself to get up and causing both hands to release.  Eren whined but Levi gave him an annoyed glance and he nodded.  Levi _quickly_ ran to his bedroom, grabbing a container of lube and two condoms (just in case), before re-straddling Eren, who was (thankfully) still hard.

“Alright Eren, get ready for the fun part.  And try to relax.”

Eren gave a questioning glance before wincing as a lube-coated finger coaxed itself into his entrance.  Levi monitored his reactions carefully.  He waited until the brunette’s expression relaxed before he moved his finger around slightly.  Eren wiggled but adjusted.  Levi added another finger and did the same thing, waiting until Eren had gotten used to it before scissoring his fingers to stretch him out.  The brunette hummed in pleasure, and was ready for the third finger, which he accepted without wincing at all.  Levi began to work his fingers in and out, watching the blood rise in Eren’s face until Eren began rocking onto the fingers himself. 

He was ready.

To a moaning protest, Levi took his fingers out before ripping open the condom wrapper with his teeth.  He didn’t miss the slight twitch of Eren’s member as he put the condom on himself before applying some lube onto his own member.  Then he put his hands on Eren’s shoulders, and got ready to enter.

…

…

“Umm…Levi?”

Levi gulped, cursing inwardly as a drop of sweat trickled down from his forehead.  

He had never actually topped before.

(He was at _least_ a good foot shorter than Erwin; how could he have topped!?)

“What’s wrong?” Eren asked gently as Levi’s grip tightened on his shoulders, “You’re shaking.”

Shaking was an understatement.  The captain’s entire body trembled as he bit his teeth, tip still prodding at Eren’s entrance.

“I can’t do it,” he finally gasped, slumping onto Eren and burying his face in his neck.  He felt Eren hesitantly puttting a hand to the small of his back.

“What can’t you do?” the brunette asked, his own voice trembling with both excitement and fear.

Levi mumbled something incoherent into his neck.  Eren moved his hand up to stroke dark obsidian locks as Levi buried his head deeper into the other’s neck.

“What can’t you do?” Eren asked once more.  Levi slowly lifted his head up, using his arms to support himself on Eren’s chest, feeling his expression turn into one of anguish.

“I can’t hurt you,” Levi said looking deep into his eyes, “I know it’s your first time and it’s supposed to be special, but I’ve never topped, and…I can’t hurt you…”  And he was forced to stare into those sparkling emerald eyes once more, gasping as he felt tears begin to collect in his eyes.  He knew he probably couldn’t hurt the brat, but he simply couldn’t trust _himself._ Eren lifted his head slowly and pressed a soft kiss to Levi’s trembling lips.

“Then we don’t have to do it this way,” Eren said calmly once his lips left Levi’s.  Then Eren hesitantly reached a hand down on his own accord and began to stroke Levi’s length.  Levi mewled, leaning into Eren’s touch.

 “I have an idea,” Eren said, continuing his administrations as Levi moaned in pleasure, “Let me do it.”

“W-what?” Levi panted as Eren rubbed his thumb over the other’s tip. 

“We can uh…do it like this,” Eren explained, maneuvering so that Levi was almost sitting on top of Eren’s member, “That way it will be pleasurable for both of us, right?”  Eren removed his hand, causing Levi to whine, an instead took his chin in his hand, guiding his face so that their eyes met.  Without a word, Eren took the lube from Levi’s trembling fingers and applied it to his own member before repeating the same process of fingering and stretching out Levi’s entrance, making sure to remove Levi’s own condom.  Then he took the second condom and opened the wrapper, to Levi’s shock.  So he was going to be the bottom after all.

The raven-haired could not have been more thankful that Eren at _least_ knew how to put a condom on.

“I’m not afraid,” Eren said, dead serious.  “Although I doubt that you’ll hurt me, this way is better.  I trust you, Levi.”

_Trust._

Levi’s eyes filled with tears once more before he angrily brushed them away with his hands.  He leaned down and captured Eren’s lips in one last searing kiss before he gently lowered himself onto Eren’s hard member.

Both males gasped as Levi slowly slid down so that Eren was fully sheathed inside the other.  Levi was moaning, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he struggled to adjust to the new intrusion inside of him.

“F-fuck,” Eren gasped as Levi finally began to get used to him, “You’re so tight, Levi…”

“I haven’t…I haven’t done this in a long time,” Levi breathed, wiggling his hips a little and almost causing Eren to cum right then and there, “It takes some getting used to…ngh!”

At this point he had lifted himself up and back down again, causing both to shout out in ecstasy.

“M-move!” Eren cried as Levi almost lost himself in the sensation.  Levi nodded before beginning to set a rhythm, slowly moving up and down and grunting each time he reached Eren’s hilt. Eren found that if he jerked his hips up at just the right time, a mewl would escape from the other’s throat.  So Eren concentrated on snapping his hips up each time Levi descended, and in no time both males were moaning without any self-control.

“Levi!  I’m close…” Eren gasped as the sounds of their love-making grew louder and louder.

“Don’t…ngh!  Don’t stop!” Levi panted before crying out as Eren’s tip brushed his prosate.  Levi snapped, and began desperately bouncing on Eren’s member, his moans escalating in pitch each time his prostate was hit.  Eren took Levi’s length in his hand and began pumping it in earnest, watching as Levi’s expression became contorted with lust.  

“Ah…E-Eren, ngh…ah…AH!”

Suddenly his eyes snapped wide open as he shouted, and came violently into Eren’s hand.

Eren felt Levi’s walls clench around him before he finally released his load as well, pushing himself up to the hilt as Levi milked him for every last drop.  Levi collapsed onto the other, breathing heavily.

“So…you’re not as clueless…as I thought you were,” Levi panted, helping Eren dispose of his condom, “That was not bad at all.”

_BEEP!  BEEP!  BEEP!  BEEP!_

The clock struck twelve times.  Midnight.

“Merry Christmas, Levi,” Eren said, embracing the other.  Levi closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of finally being loved again.

“And Happy Birthday,” the brunette whispered.  Levi’s head snapped up and he looked at the other in shock.  But he was too late…Eren had already fallen asleep with that stupid grin on his face.

* * *

 

CHRISTMAS DAY

_Bzzt!  Bzzt!  Bzzt!  Bzzt!_

Levi groaned, blinking sleep from his eyes.  Where was he…?

Oh yeah.  He was on the couch.  He did it with the brat last night.  But where had he gone?  Oh boy…

He turned to the source of the buzzing and saw that his phone was ringing.  Grumbling, he picked up the phone and answered it.

“HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, LEVI!!!!” Hanji screamed from the other line, almost causing Levi to drop the phone, “YOU’RE NOW OFFICALLY OLD!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS, YOU OLD FART!”

“How nice of you to call, Hanji,” Levi said in a monotone voice, holding the phone at arm’s length away from his head.  He was ready to hang up the phone right then and there but Hanji’s next question stopped him.

“So…who was on top?”

“WHAT?!” Levi roared, heart hammering in his chest, “What---how did you---when--?!”

“Well Eren told me that he had gotten the _best Christmas present he could have ever hoped for,”_ Hanji goaded—Levi could practically _feel_ her grinning--“And I just wanted to get the _juicy details_ from my dear friend Le--!”

Levi hung up the phone and threw it against the wall where it made a lovely dent in the plaster.

“What was that?” Eren called from the kitchen.  Levi growled and wrapped himself in a blanket before walking over to where a fully-clothed Eren was happily making some omelettes.

“It was nothing,” the raven-haired answered before hugging Eren a little too tightly and causing him to squeak, “And if you _ever_ tell Hanji about what happened last night, I will _skin you alive and toss your entrails in--!”_

“Ah, that reminds me!” Eren yelped, interrupting Levi’s monologue before disentangling himself from the other’s grasp and grabbing something from a high shelf before shoving it into his hands. “Merry Christmas, Levi!”

Levi blinked.  In his hands were a cookbook and a black apron.

“Er…I didn’t really know what else to get you,” Eren admitted sheepishly, “But this should at least help when I’m not here, right?  There’s plenty of great recipes that are simple to make, and there’s a great dessert menu--!”

Levi effectively silenced the other by giving him a sweet kiss.

“You babble on too much, brat,” Levi breathed before grabbing the front of Eren’s shirt, “And you still owe me a birthday present.”

“Eh?!” Eren yelped before Levi turned off the oven and began pulling Eren towards his bedroom.


	15. En Garde!

**Chapter 15**

**En Garde!**

“Mmm…ah…Ymir, that tickles!”

No response, only the intensifying sensation of—

“W-wait!  Not there…it’s sensitive…”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Nimble fingers dancing over porcelain skin; goosebumps springing up to each administration--

“Y-Ymir!  No more, I can’t…I’m gonna…AH!”

“Geez, you are so melodramatic!” Ymir complained as she took a step back, rolling up the measuring tape that had previously been wrapped around her girlfriend’s waist.  “You gotta hold still so I can get these measurements!”

“But Ymirrrr!” Krista whined, rubbing her arms to generate warmth, “We don’t even know if I’m going to make the team!  It’s pointless to measure for a uniform when I have no hope of even making it in the first place…”

The Mechanical Engineering major sighed, putting down the measuring tape before suddenly pulling the blonde in for a sweet kiss.  “Trust me, you’ll make it.”

“Y-you don’t know that,” the other muttered while averting her eyes, cheeks pink, “B-besides, why am I the only one getting measured?  You’re a much better fencer; I think _you_ have the best chance of getting onto the Recon Fencing Team!”

Ymir grimaced, turning away.  “If anyone deserves to be on that team…it’s definitely not me.”  Her gaze travelled over to the uniform sticking out of her bag by the closet.  She started when she felt Krista’s hands gently grip her shoulders.

“Ymir?  Are you alright?”  Krista asked softly, rubbing small circles into the other’s shoulders.  Ymir leaned her head back until it was resting on the blonde’s shoulders.

“It’s nothing,” she lied before letting a small grin grace her features. “Just thinking about how we have to finish those measurements…”  

Krista clicked her tongue and rolled her blue eyes.  “Can we just take a small break?  My poor body needs to recover from all of the tickling you’re doing!”

“Tch.  It’s not my fault you’re sensitive.”  Suddenly Krista’s breath was in Ymir’s ear and she shivered as goosebumps rose on her skin.

“You know,” Krista whispered, “Sensitivity can be reduced through increased exposure to touch.” 

Ymir gulped, feeling blood rise to her face.

“Hehe, your ears are turning red!” Krista giggled before she released her grip on Ymir’s shoulders, instead taking her hand and leading the brunette to her bed, “Want to help me become…less ticklish?”

Ymir was more than happy to oblige, capturing Krista’s lips into a deep kiss as nimble fingers quickly divested the blonde of her bra.  Krista hummed in pleasure as Ymir’s hands slid over hardened nubs, trailing down to her stomach.

“You know, I never understood why boobs are such a turn on,” Krista said as the brunette began trailing kisses down her neck, hands busy kneading circles into her hips, “I mean, they’re essentially just lumps of fat.”

“Krista, your Physiology major is showing,” Ymir murmured, “And for your information, I find your lumps of fat _very_ enticing.” 

Krista chuckled, bringing up her arms to hold Ymir close as her eyes closed in bliss.  “Thank goodness we both share this dorm room.  I don’t know how we could do these things otherwise.”

“You got that right.”  Ymir closed her lips around a pink nub and sucked.  Krista moaned wantonly, her back arching.  The brunette grinned, and suddenly began tickling the blonde’s sides.  The other shrieked before laughter as sweet as a songbird’s melody erupted from her lips.  

It was music to Ymir’s ears.

Krista’s grip on her shoulders suddenly stilled and Ymir looked up.  “Krista?”

Krista was looking forward, her eyes widening.  Ymir followed her gaze, and her heart stopped.  Krista was looking right at Ymir’s bag with the uniform.

“Oooh, Ymir, what’s that?” the blonde squealed, “It’s so pretty!  I’ve never seen you wear anything with _roses_ on it before!”

Ymir blanched, disentangling herself from her girlfriend before running over to the bag and frantically zipping it shut.  “Forget you saw that!”

Krista blinked in confusion.  “What…why can’t I see it?”

Ymir felt sweat break out on her forehead.

“Ah….um…”

“Ymir.”  Krista’s voice suddenly got colder and Ymir winced.  It was a rare sight to see Krista Lenz angry.

“It’s a surprise!” the brunette finally blurted out in desperation, “And…you weren’t supposed to see it.”

“A surprise?”  Krista’s eyes widened in understanding before she pounced onto the other in excitement. “Aww, Ymir, you shouldn’t have!  This is because my birthday is coming up, right?  I love you sooo much!” 

Ymir hated the words that came from her mouth next as she returned Krista’s embrace, running her fingers through smooth blonde hair.  “Yeah.  It’s a surprise for you.”

It was the truth…but a twisted one.

* * *

 

The New Year brought a new semester and fresh start to the students of Kyojin University.  Gone were the stressful days and sleepless nights…and even the Freshmen Fifteen, if some were lucky.  These were instead replaced with New Year’s resolutions to procrastinate less and study more—resolves that would undoubtedly dissolve within a few weeks, but hey—it’s the thought that counts, right?

And with the New Year came some…surprising changes, specifically concerning a Neuroscience and History double major named Armin Arlert.

Eren had been gaping at Armin for the past few minutes as the blonde helped Mikasa move some things into her dorm room. Gone were the bowl haircut and skinny figure the blonde used to have.  Instead Armin had somehow grown taller than Eren, his skinny frame now replaced with a more lean body, and his hair longer with half of it gathered into a ponytail.

“Eren, can you stop staring at me?” Armin asked weakly once he set down the box containing Mikasa’s textbooks and scratched the back of his head.  “It’s creeping me out…”

“So this is what happens when you turn 20,” the brunette murmured in awe.  Armin rolled his eyes. 

“You’ll have to forgive him,” a silky voice behind Eren commented, causing him to jump. “His bad habit of gawking at people hasn’t diminished in the least.”  

“Levi.” Mikasa acknowledged the raven-haired standing behind Eren, “I hope you didn’t do anything to Eren during winter break.”

Uh oh.  Red light.  Mikasa was getting into over-protective mode.

“N-no, he didn’t do anything…” Eren stammered before Levi cut in, “that he didn’t want.”

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed.  “Eren, if he hurt you, I won’t hesitate to--!”

“Mikasa, it’s fine,” Eren sighed, exasperated, “Look.”

To everyone’s surprise, Eren whirled around and pulled the fencing captain into a kiss.  However, the shock quickly faded when Levi had enough sense to whack Eren in the head.

“Idiot!  What’s gotten into you?!” the raven-haired sputtered as Armin burst into laughter.  Mikasa’s expression had softened somewhat, to Eren’s surprise.  Grumbling, Levi wrenched himself from Eren’s grasp and walked away, muttering, “You can move your own damn boxes into your room, shitty brat.”

“So I take it you two are finally together?” Armin asked once he had calmed down.  Eren nodded, taking a seat at Mikasa’s desk.

“We are…and we were trying to keep it on the down-low,” he said sheepishly, “But I guess I ruined it, huh…”

“I’m happy for you,” Mikasa said, a small smile gracing her features.  Eren searched her gaze, and was relieved to find nothing guarded.  She was genuinely happy for him.

“Me too,” added Armin, taking a seat beside Mikasa “And like I’ve said, we’re always here for you.”

Eren felt himself choking up and was unable to respond.  They sat like that for a moment, Eren too wrapped up in his emotions to notice that Armin had gently taken Mikasa’s hand in his own.

The moment was interrupted by the door to Mikasa’s dorm room bursting open, revealing Connie and Sasha wrapped around each other so tightly it was hard to tell where one person ended and the other began.  The two were kissing fiercely, fumbling around the room as they tried to find Sasha’s bed.  Eren blanched when Connie’s elbow made contact with his head and let out a shout of pain.

Sasha and Connie froze, both heads slowly turning to face the trio.

“Hi, Sasha…” Mikasa said cautiously, her eye twitching, “Did you have a good winter break?”

Sasha and Connie looked back at each other before springing apart, faces beet red as they began stumbling over each other’s words.

“Mikasa...it wasn’t—!”

“—not what you think—!”

“I mean _he_ was the one who started it--!”

“ _Me?!_   No way, it was most definitely--!”

“You guys need to calm down, I’m pretty sure the entire university knows by now,” Jean sighed from the doorway, accompanied by Marco.  

“I don’t really see why you two keep trying to hide it,” Marco added, “I think it’s cute!  And after all, why would you want to keep you love a secret?  It’s a beautiful thing, after all…”

“You got that right,” Jean said warmly, ruffling Marco’s hair.

“Um…can you all get out of my room?” Mikasa asked listlessly, “I still have a lot to unpack…”

“Oh yeah!” exclaimed Jean before he turned his gaze to Eren, “Speaking of unpacking, _someone_ left a stack of boxes in front of our dorm room, and they all have _your_ name on them.”  

_Levi…_ Eren thought as he waved his hands in defense, “Ah…yes…I’ll take care of them…sorry.”  Jean huffed and was about to leave before Annie suddenly appeared, taking a hold of Jean and Marco’s shirts as she loomed over the freshmen.

“Maybe your brains are a bit fuzzy from winter break,” she began slowly, “But there are _no boys allowed on this fl--!”_

“Annie, give it a rest,” Reiner sighed from behind all of them, “We seriously need to talk about your R.A. skills.”

Eren glanced over at Mikasa.  He prepared himself for the worst when he saw her eye twitching.

_“Everyone…get out of the room,”_ she demanded, her voice deadly low and setting the room into motion.

“Wow would you look at the time—” Jean

“Yeah we’d better get going—” Marco

“I gotta move those boxes—” Eren

“Man I’m starving, we’d better—”  Connie

“—get to the dining hall before the mashed potatoes run out—” Sasha

“I think I heard some boys on the other side of the hall—” Annie

“Wait, we still have things to discuss--!”  Reiner

Mikasa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose once everybody had cleared the room.  Armin chuckled and patted her back.

“I’ll finish helping you unpacking, is that al--” He faltered when Mikasa’s death glare landed on him and he sprung from the bed.

“Right, I’ll just be going now; gotta get started on those readings for my, uh, new psychology class!” he stammered as he backed out of the room, “Text me for dinner later, okay?”

The door slammed shut and Mikasa finally plopped down on her bed, the weight of the new semester’s demands already beginning to fatigue her before classes even began.

* * *

 

One week into the new semester and Eren was already feeling more optimistic than he had ever felt before.  He had failed his English class last semester and had to retake it, but to his luck Erwin was his new professor this semester.  Since they were both in the Fencing Club they were already well-acquainted and Professor Erwin had even offered to tutor Eren if he ever needed it.  

To Eren’s surprise he was actually enjoying most of his new classes, which were mostly math and beginning mechanics and engineering courses.  With his new resolve to stay in college he was more motivated than ever to explore his degree options and improve his grades—the Trost School of Engineering didn’t take just anybody, after all.  What was even better was that now Thomas Wagner was in most of his classes—the new soccer captain was something of a genius, and offered to be Eren’s study buddy (he also offered to jump off a cliff for Eren if he had to, but Eren was quick to set Thomas in his place and remind him that loyalty to a friend could only go so far).

Eren shouldered his bag as he exited his last class of the day, Calculus II, before making a beeline for the fencing studio.  It was Friday, the first official meeting of the Fencing Club for the new semester…and the day the members of the Recon Fencing Team would finally be revealed.

Bracing himself, Eren opened the doors to the fencing studio and was immediately tackled to the ground by a mess of brown hair and pure energy. 

“ERENNNNN!  HOW WAS WINTER BREAK?” Hanji bellowed as Eren struggled to get his bearings, “YOU HAVE TO TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR LOVEY-DOVEY TIME WITH LEVI AND OH MY GOSH YOU REALLY TONED UP OVER THE LAST MONTH, IT’S A GOOD THING WE PICK--!”

“Hanji!” Petra cried out, yanking the bespectacled senior off of the bewildered freshman, “You’re not supposed to tell him anything yet!”  She turned to Eren, smiling sheepishly as she helped him up.  “And welcome back, Eren.  Levi told me you practiced hard over break and I can’t wait to see the results!”

“Thanks, Petra,” Eren responded, “I take it you had a good break with Professor Erwin?”

“Oh…something like that,” Petra stammered, her cheeks tinged pink, “Um…you’d better get suited up; we have to start practice soon!”  Eren nodded and made his way over to the uniform closet, where he met Mikasa.

“You ready?” she asked as Eren shrugged on his fencing jacket.

“I think so,” the brunette responded before facing her with a grin on his face.  “Mikasa.  I’d like to try sparring with you once if that’s okay.”

“With me?”  The black-haired seemed perplexed.  “But we use different blades…”

“Not anymore!” Eren exclaimed, grabbing a sabre from the fencing closet, “Levi finally moved me up to sabre.”

“Wow…he really does care….” Mikasa mumbled in awe before grabbing her own blade.  “Let’s fence, shall we?”

Eren had certainly improved over winter break.  Gone was habit of retreating and only acting on the defense.  Instead he was now fueled with determination to make the team, and by listening to Levi, he now had the conviction to score a point and was not afraid of the speed sabre matches usually reached.

“You’ve improved,” Mikasa panted as she struck out to land a touch only to be quickly blocked by Eren, “You’ve definitely gotten faster, that’s for sure.”  

Eren didn’t answer; he was solely focused on landing at least one touch.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Levi surveying his movements and saw him nod in approval.  But alas, Mikasa proved to still be the top fencer of his group as she suddenly performed a flunge and easily went through his defenses.  Eren yanked the helmet off of his head, rubbing his arm where Mikasa had gotten him.

“I guess you’re still the best, huh?” he asked as Mikasa pulled off her own helmet.  Mikasa sighed and lightly punched his good arm.

“It’s not about beating me,” she told him seriously, “It’s about making it on the team.”

“NO WAY!” a voice shouted from the other side of the room and everyone’s head whipped around to find the source.  To Eren’s shock, Armin and Hanji were in a foil match against each other—and Armin had been the one to score the winning point.  Hanji seemed to be in utter disbelief as Armin kept apologizing if he had hurt her.

“You barely joined the team before winter break and you just beat me!?” the brunette howled in a mix of horror and awe, “How is that even possible?!”

Armin scratched the back of his head, visibly sweatdropping as he stammered, “Ehe…uh…I had a lot of time to practice over the break?”

“Wow Armin, you’re really good!” cheered Krista, coming over to give him a high-five, “You’ll definitely make the team!”

At the mention of ‘the team,’ the room suddenly got silent.  Today was the big day, after all.  Petra seemed to notice the mood of the room change and sighed. 

“Alright everybody, I think it’s time we took a break…and reveal who earned their spot on the Recon Fencing Team,” she announced, “Now I need to all to listen very carefully.”  She took a deep breath before she continued, “I would like all new members to form a line on the other side of the room.  Coaches and captains, you come with me.”

Eren’s heart was pounding as he joined Armin and Mikasa.  Beside him Jean was encouraging Marco, whispering, “You’re the best épée fencer out of any of the new people.  You’ll make it!”  Marco nodded but had gone pale with nervousness.

Eren looked over to the other side of the room where Levi was conversing with the other existing members of the Recon Fencing Team.  The brunette made eye contact with the raven-haired, looking for any sign of confirmation that he had made on the team, but was met with Levi’s trademark scowl.  Beside Levi, Hanji nodded before the group huddle broke.

“We are ready to announce the new members of the Recon Fencing Team, so everybody listen up!” Hanji demanded, “We will begin by having all of the members of the existing Recon Fencing Team line up.”

Eren watched as Levi, Erwin, Petra, Hanji, Mike, Eld, and Gunther all lined up facing the freshmen, expressions dead serious.  Hanji cleared her throat.

“The Recon Fencing Team has been around ever since our captain, Levi, established its formation 5 years ago.  Being able to don the Wings of Freedom on your uniform is an honor and should not be taken lightly.”  Here she paused to allow for a brief moment of silence before addressing Levi.  “Captain Levi has a few remarks before we officially begin.”

Levi nodded and stepped forward.

“I established this club and this team in order to show that not all sports are about strength and mindless actions,” the raven-haired began, surveying the freshmen.  “Fencing is not just a sport, but an art combining wit and strategy.  The ultimate goal is not to just beat your opponent, but understand them as well.  It is an art demands respect and my job is to make sure you all uphold this respect during tournaments.

“We lost two of our best sabre fencers last year,” he continued, “Because of their shitty choices to abandon the team and join a combat fencing unit team called the Garrison.”  Out of the corner of Eren’s eye he saw Bertholdt twitch inexplicably.

“The Garrison Fencing Team has always been the favorite in the world of fencing,” Levi continued, his voice growing colder “Because the team also serves as a recruitment operation for the Military Police.  _This why I despise them.”_

The room grew dead silent.

“The Garrison Fencing Team has abandoned the true art of fencing, and has instead focused on creating soldiers by emphasizing the combat side of the sport.  They do not care about the intricacies of a match and only survey their opponents to scout for potential new candidates.  They will not respect the sport, and more importantly, they will not respect you.

“If you are chosen to be a part of the Recon Fencing Team, it is not only because you have demonstrated your skills that make you worthy opponents of the Garrison Fencing Team,” the fencing captain concluded, “It is because we know you respect the sport and will uphold its integrity, which is something the other team simply cannot do.  That being said, I value your loyalty to this team more than anything else.  I can only hope you will do the same.”

“I could not have said it any better!” a deep voice boomed, and everyone gasped as the Recon Fencing Team parted to reveal Associate Dean and legendary fencer Dot Pixis.  Levi stepped back into the line as Pixis cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, my job here today is to acknowledge one of our new members who stood out to our existing team,” Pixis announced, producing a brand new sabre blade, “We believe this candidate has the most potential to lead the Recon Fencing Team in the future, and as such I will serve as this person’s coach until they are ready to lead on their own.”

Everyone’s heart was pounding as they glanced around at each other.  Who could it be?

“Mikasa Ackerman, please step forward!” Pixis finally exclaimed, grinning.  Eren and Armin both burst into wild applause soon joined in by everyone else as Mikasa stepped forward and gratefully received the blade, which had her name engraved on it.  For the final touch, Pixis revealed a beautiful green cape with the Wings of Freedom on the back, which he wrapped around Mikasa’s shoulders.  

“Welcome to the Recon Fencing Team!” he finished, “You may now join the existing members.”  Eren’s heart swelled with pride as Mikasa’s green cape billowed behind her as she made her way over to the other side of the room.

“Congratulations to Mikasa!”  Petra exclaimed, clapping her hands as Dot Pixis joined the line as well, “But we must carry on!  Normally we only pick one candidate per blade, but this year, we have decided to choose three!  Our fencing season is going to be challenging, and we need to make up for the members we lost last year.”

“May I ask all of the fencing club members to turn around and close their eyes?” Erwin directed from beside her, “And I will explain how the revealing process will go.”

Eren glanced at Armin before he and everyone else turned to face the wall, their backs to the team.

“Each member of the Recon Fencing Team has chosen one potential candidate to coach as we go forward in this season’s fencing tournaments,” Erwin explained, “Each team member will stand behind you and don you with a cape if you have been chosen for the team.  If you have been chosen, you will turn around to face your new coach and step forward.

“Will the Recon Fencing Team members reveal the new candidates please!” he finished, and Eren felt himself break into a cold sweat as he heard the footsteps of the team approach the freshmen.  What if he hadn’t been chosen?  What if he had trained with Levi for nothing?  What if—

“Welcome to the Recon Fencing Team,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear before he felt something wrap around his shoulders.  His eyes snapped open as tears sprang into his eyes.  He quickly rubbed them away before he turned around to face Levi, who was _smiling._

“Congratulations, shitty brat.  You made it,” the raven-haired said quietly and it took Eren everything he had not to hug the captain right then and there.  He looked to his left and saw Armin and Jean gaping at Hanji, who whispered, “I just couldn’t choose so I get to coach you both!”  He looked further and saw Krista beaming at Petra, while Ymir was refusing to meet Gunther’s eyes for some reason.  To his right Connie and Sasha were high-fiving each other as Mike and Eld beamed at their new trainees.  

But something else caught Eren’s eye.  At the very end of the line, Erwin was giving Bertholdt a very confused look as the freshman seemed to be fighting something within himself.  Bertholdt’s teeth were clenched, his hands balled into fists as a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

“Everyone please turn around and we will announce the new Recon Fencing Team members!” Pixis roared from the other side of the room and Eren felt Levi push him so that he was lined up with the other new members.  

“On the foil, we have Jean, Krista, and Armin!” Pixis announced as each of the three were handed a new blade.  Jean’s gaze was focused on Marco—who hadn’t made the team and had a sad smile on his face as he applauded the other.

“On épée we have Connie, Sasha, and Ymir!”  Pixis continued as the others received their blades—Eren noticed Krista staring at Ymir, whose hands had started shaking uncontrollably as she gripped her blade.

“And on sabre, we have Mikasa, Bertholdt, and Eren!” Pixis finally finished and Eren beamed as Levi handed him his new sabre—

“I…I CAN’T DO IT!” Bertholdt cried, finally losing it.  Eren and everybody else turned over to the freshman, who refused to take the sabre from Erwin.  The room went silent as Bertholdt folded in on himself, backing away from the others and grabbing his head.

Erwin stepped forward.  “Bertholdt, you deserve this--!” 

“NO I DON’T!” Bertholdt screamed and Eren’s heart leapt into his throat as Bertholdt pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of a shield containing two thorny roses, the symbol of—

“The Garrison Fencing Team,” Eren whispered as everyone gasped.  Before anyone had a chance to panic a sharp _CLANG!_ broke through the stunned silence—Ymir had dropped her blade and was now trembling uncontrollably. 

“Ymir, w-what’s wrong?!” Krista stammered as Gunther picked up Ymir’s blade, perplexed.  Ymir gave one last desperate look at Krista before she took off, pushing the other team members out of the way as she made her way towards the door.

“Ymir, wait!  What’s going on!?  Ymir!” Krista had handed her blade to Petra and was running after Ymir who was struggling to zip up her bag while running. “YMIR!”

Ymir stopped and Krista collided into her causing Ymir to drop her bag.  The blonde gasped as a fencing uniform with the same symbol as Bertholdt’s tattoo fell out.  She picked up the uniform, tears filling her eyes as she looked at Ymir who had her back turned to her.

“Is this the surprise you were talking about?” Krista whispered, tears rolling down her face as she clutched the uniform to her chest, “Is this it?”

Ymir remained silent.

“Just tell them, Ymir!” Bertholdt moaned from the centre of the room, “There’s no use hiding it anymore!”  In front of Eren Levi had bowed his head, brows furrowed.

“Please tell me you’re lying and that this is just a joke!” Krista cried out, breaking out into sobs, “Please…please…”

“I’m sorry, Krista,” Ymir finally whispered, turning around to take the uniform away from Krista and picking up her bag. “Bertholdt, it’s time to go.”

“Ymir…” the blonde grabbed her sleeve but Ymir quickly yanked her arm away.  Nobody attempted to move as Bertholdt picked himself up, wiping his eyes, and joined Ymir.  The two Garrison fencers left the room without another word, leaving a broken Krista sobbing on the ground and a stifling air of bitterness and solemnity.


	16. Old Tangles, New Knots

**Chapter 16**

**Old Tangles, New Knots**

“They did it,” Reiner muttered, pocketing his phone with a sigh, “Bertholdt and Ymir told them.”

“Those _idiots,_ ” Annie hissed, kicking her sports bag and crossing her arms, “All they had to do was wait a few more weeks! Now what are we supposed to do?!”

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” Reiner snapped, “It was _your_ idea to have them infiltrate the other team--”

“Because they were going to figure out each Recon member’s strategy!” Annie interrupted, “We were so _close.”_

“I don’t exactly get what’s going on with this stupid plan,” Lukas drawled, polishing his blade, “Care to explain?”

Annie was tempted to punch the little shit in the nose but Reiner beat her to it, proving that he was still indeed the International Wrestling Champion of his age by drop-kicking the ex-football captain to the ground and pinning his foot to his chest.

“Perhaps your memory has been damaged from all of those tackles when you were on the football team, but the _only_ reason you are still allowed to set foot on this campus and are not behind bars is because _I have allowed it_ ,” Reiner snarled.

“I’m pretty sure it’s because I threatened to kill your _boyfriend,_ ” Lukas jeered, “Remember, I know people who can _make your life a---”_

“Cut the crap!” Reiner interrupted, digging his heel deeper into Lukas’ chest and causing him to wheeze, “You disrespect me or anyone else on this team and I’ll make sure your cousin Erwin is the one putting you behind bars.”

Lukas’ face purpled in anger but he didn’t dare respond. Reiner lifted his foot from the other’s chest and Lukas sat up slowly.

“Fine. _I’m sorry._ Can you at least just tell me what’s going on?”

Annie and Reiner exchanged glances.

“You know this isn’t just about fencing, right?” sounded Rico’s voice. Lukas turned around to see the grey-haired grad student leaning against the door of the fencing studio, tracing one of the roses of Garrison tattoo on her arm.

“What are you talking about?” Lukas asked slowly.

Rico walked into the studio up to the ex-football player before turning around and lifting her hair to reveal the back of her neck.

“Do you know what this tattoo means?” Annie asked, watching Lukas’ eyes widen in horror as he stared at the green unicorn inked into Rico’s skin.

* * *

 

“Unforgivable,” Levi muttered as everybody began to calm down from the shocking events that had just occurred. “If I ever see those two again I’m going to—”

“Not now, captain,” Hanji snapped, to Levi’s surprise. “I’m not exactly thrilled about this either, but we need to think.”

“Krista?” Petra asked gently as she knelt down next to the sobbing blonde, “did Ymir ever—”

“I should have known something was up ever since winter break ended,” Krista said weakly, “I should have known!” She wiped her tears and looked earnestly into Petra’s eyes. “I was supposed to spend winter break with Ymir but for some reason she kept refusing,” she explained, “And when we came back she seemed more jumpy than usual. And...I saw the uniform in her bag last weekend, but I didn’t know it was the Garrison uniform!”

“She must have joined the Garrison over winter break,” Hanji muttered.

“Impossible,” Dot Pixis snapped, causing everyone, even Levi, to look over.

“I have seen Garrison training sessions before,” he said seriously, “Garrison fencers do not earn their uniforms until they have made the team, and in your friend’s case, tattoos are only earned if you have been on the team for at least a semester.”

“That means Bertholdt has been on the team since day one,” Hanji muttered, “and that Ymir must have joined in the middle of last semester if she’s on their team now.”

“So that shitty brat Bertholdt was acting as a spy for the Garrison Fencing Team the entire time,” Levi said darkly, crossing his arms.

“Now Levi, we don’t know that for sure,” began Petra, before Eren interrupted her.

“Actually…” the brunette said, “I think Levi is right.”

_Bertholdt paused, taking a moment to mix together two powders in a beaker, then continued, “I don’t think we’re supposed to like Rico either, because she fences for the Garrison Fencing Team.”_

_“Garrison?” Eren tilted his head as he emptied a beaker of water into a flask. Bertholdt nodded, adjusting his lab goggles._

_“They’re a combat fencing unit comprised of people who aspire to join the Military Police and work with 3-D Maneuver Gear,” explained Bertholdt, helping Eren weigh the flask they had just filled, “But they also participate in the usual competitions—they usually scout for new members, though. That’s why Reiner and Annie--!”_

“Bertholdt was in my Biology class, and he accidentally let slip some information he had on the Garrison Fencing Team,” Eren sighed, hanging his head. “From what he told me, Reiner, Annie, and Professor Rico are also on the team. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys before; I thought what he was telling me was common knowledge.”

“Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt fence sabre,” Levi murmured to himself, “They now have Ymir to fence épée, and I’m pretty sure Rico fences sabre, épée, and foil…but then again, Reiner might use all three blades as well…”

“What are you thinking, Levi?” Erwin asked. Levi didn’t answer, staring at the ground for a few seconds.

“All existing and new members of the Recon Fencing Team, line up!” he suddenly barked, “I need to see how many more fencers we need.” Then he turned to the rest of the club members who had not been selected for the team. “Good news for you shitty brats. Due to the unforgivable actions by Bertholdt and Ymir, two new spots are open on the team. Don’t do anything stupid and you might be selected.”

He then turned back to the team, who had lined up. Krista was even in line, still attempting to wipe her tears. Eren followed Levi’s gaze as the captain surveyed the team.

“Recon Foil fencers, please step forward,” Levi said. Petra and the others complied.

“Petra, Hanji, Jean, Armin, and Krista,” Levi counted, “Good. We have enough foil fencers.”

“Épée fencers, step forward.” Eren watched as Levi counted Gunther, Eld, Connie, and Sasha.

“We need one more épée fencer,” Levi announced, turning back to the rest of the club, “Now where are my épée candidates?”

Marco and three others raised their hand. Gunther stepped forward to stand beside Levi.

“Gunther, Ymir was your first choice candidate—”

“And for that I apologize, captain,” Gunther interrupted softly. “I should have realized—”

“You are at no fault,” Levi responded sharply, “You made your decision based on what potential you saw, as we all did. Did you have a second choice candidate?”

Gunther nodded. “Marco Bodt."

“W-w-w-wha..wha…” Marco started, his mouth wide open. Jean beamed as his friend’s face turned bright red, accenting his flawless freckles. Levi regarded the freshman carefully, who suddenly stood up straight, hands at his sides. He remained staring forward as the captain approached him.

“Are you certain you are healed from…that day?” Levi asked the freshman quietly, who looked down at him. “Will you be able to handle the responsibility that comes with being on the team?”

Marco nodded vigorously. “I will do my best, captain! My wish is to uphold the integrity of this team!”

“Gunther,” Levi called, “Do you agree to coach Marco in place of Ymir until he has earned his position?”

Gunther nodded and Levi looked back at Marco before bending down to pick up what was once Ymir’s cape and draping it over the freckled freshman. “Welcome to the Recon Fencing Team, Marco. Do not disappoint me.”

“Y-y-yes sir!” Marco exclaimed, grinning as he joined the Recon Fencing Team line. Jean wrapped an arm around his shoulders, causing his face to turn impossibly redder.

“The rest of you may leave,” Erwin announced to the remaining trainees, who appeared slightly crestfallen. “We will resume activities next week.”

“We’re sorry you had to experience something like this,” Hanji added as the others began packing away their equipment. “Just keep working hard for us, okay? You’ll all have a shot at the team next year!”

The Recon Fencing Team was silent as the others left. Petra comforted Krista as they waited, handing her a small hankerchief and rubbing her back encouragingly. Eren clenched his fists, fighting a new kind of rage that was bubbling inside of him. How could Bertholdt and Ymir _do_ this!? Mikasa noticed Eren trembling and gently placed her hand on top of his. Eren unclenched his fists. Armin offered him a sad half-hearted smile—he was affected by this too.

“We’re still short one member to qualify the team for competitions,” Levi muttered once the others had all left. “We need a sabre fencer. Unfortunately the rest of those shitty brats didn't have the balls to train in sabre besides Eren and Mikasa.”

“What about Pixis?” Eld queried.

“You know very well I cannot do that,” the Dean in question replied, crossing his arms, “It’s an unfair advantage to have someone of my caliber on the team. My role here is to coach, not to compete. Plus Dean Detrich would have my ass fired the moment I set foot in that competition, the bast---”

“DID SOMEONE SAY SABRE?” a voice roared from outside the fencing studio before the door burst open, revealing a man in his late 30s holding 3-D Maneuver Gear and a smirk on his face.

Petra paled visibly.

Eld and Gunther slowly began backing away.

Mike Zacharias’ expression turned sour.

Hanji covered her face with her hands, shaking her head back and forth.

Erwin rolled his eyes.

“Oluo Bossard,” Levi muttered with clenched teeth, expression darkening exponentially as the man confidently strode into the room, oblivious to the stupefied expressions on the university students’ faces.

“Fear not, Recon, for I have returned at last!” the man cried, gallivanting towards the team, “I bet you guys missed the fury of the ‘Savage Sabre’ but you would not believe—akjfndb!” He squawked in surprise as he bit his own tongue before sinking to the floor in pain. He failed to notice the fencing captain approaching him menacingly, unsheathing his blade.

“Alas, friends, my poor habit of skewering my tongue has yet to abandon me,” Oluo began, “But with time, I wi—”

“Where the FUCK have you been?!” Levi roared, yes, _roared_ , smacking him with the hilt of his blade, “Where were you when we needed you _two years ago?”_

“Oluo used to be our top sabre fencer…” Petra whispered as the team watched Oluo howl in pain, curling into a fetal position.

“Until Levi beat his record of 48 wins,” Hanji finished, giving the man a pitiful look.

“C-captain Levi!” Oluo cried, “Why are you so cruel? I was training abroad, remember? I even established a new fencing school!”

“That doesn’t explain why you abandoned our team when we needed you for the final match,” Levi growled, kicking Oluo in the shin, “And dammit, take off that cravat! It pisses me off when you try to imitate me like that.” Oluo scrambled on the floor for a second before feebly removing his cravat, standing up to face the bewildered team members.

“Long time, no see, eh?” he asked feebly, scratching the back of his head as he regarded the team, “I see I came in time to see the new team members…I am Oluo Bossard, also known as the ‘Savage Sab--”

“Let’s see if that title still applies to you,” Levi retorted. “Erwin, lend him your sabre.”

Erwin sighed in exasperation, doing so. “Is this really necessary?”

“Absolutely. I need a team,” Levi snapped. “Will you do the honours?”

“This is ridiculous,” the blonde muttered as Levi and Oluo saluted each other with matching scowls and narrowed eyes. “Ready? _Fence!_ ”

Well, Oluo wasn't called the ‘Savage Sabre’ for nothing, Eren noted as he observed the brief yet ruthless match. Oluo did not blink once as he moved with a ferocity that matched Levi’s, expression almost at ease as he thrust again and again.  Eren heard Mikasa gasp as Oluo, to everyone’s surprise, landed a touch on the fencing captain.

“Yes…but off-target,” Erwin said slowly, in shock himself.

“Damn, I was so close!” Oluo chuckled as Levi sheathed his blade with a growl, “That was the closest I’ve ever gotten!”

“And the closest you’ll ever get,” Levi muttered, his cheeks sporting a hint of red as he addressed the rest of the fencers. “Congratulations. We now have a fencing team.”

Eren beamed at Armin and Mikasa as Hanji squealed, “Oh, this is so great; we need to take a _picture_! Oluo even brought his cape back!” To nobody’s surprise she produced a camera and a tripod from her bag. “Okay everyone, get together!”

Eren made sure he was standing next to Armin and Mikasa, the trio beaming at each other. Behind them Oluo cried, “Petra, my love, my flower, let me stand next to you!” but moaned in horror as Petra flushed and linked her hand with Erwin’s instead.

“You bastard…you bastard…I’ll get you for this, Erwin!” Oluo wept as Hanji joined the team before the camera flashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super long wait! I hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


	17. Dust in the Lens

**Chapter 17**

**Dust in the Lens**

"Uh…is this normal?" Eren asked monotonously, a feeling of dread washing over him as he stared at the entrance to the dining hall.

"Definitely not normal," Mikasa responded in the same monotonous tone.

"I guess it's one way to attract attention?" Armin speculated, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

Hanji and Rico had really outdone themselves this time. In Hanji's never-ending quest to prove that she was the superior biologist she had set up a booth right in front of the entrance to the dining hall to gather volunteers for a research study…the final research project of her undergraduate career, in fact. The words "WANT EASY MONEY? PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH STUDY! ONLY TWO HOURS OF YOUR TIME." were messily painted on a banner above her head and she was attempting very hard to get students to sign up.

However, in the spirit of the not-so-literal blood feud between the two biologists, Rico, the graduate student who had bested Hanji the year before had also set up a booth…right next to Hanji's. Her sign seemed to be more practical-"PARTICIPATE IN A SIMPLE RESEARCH STUDY TO HELP BETTER WORLD MEDICINE PRODUCTION. COMPENSATION PROVIDED." Hanji was practically breathing flames as Rico smirked at her—the graduate student had a significantly longer line of students waiting to sign up.

Such was the life of getting easy money for college students.

However, the booths were blocking the dining hall and the two biologists were making sure nobody got inside without signing up first.

"What do you think we should do?" Eren asked cautiously as the trio began to approach the two booths in the merged line, "I want to support Hanji but I'm scared of what her 'research' might entail…"

The freshman spoke from experience, of course, making the mistake of lending his body to science the semester before and leaving Hanji's lab with blisters all over his back and legs.

"Professor Rico's study looks interesting," Armin began half-heartedly, his interest piqued as a neuroscience major; however, his face darkened as he saw Hanji sit up excitedly in her chair as she spotted the trio. "But I don't think Hanji will let us live…"

"OVER HERE, MY THREE FAVOURITE FRESHMEN!" Hanji cried in relief, waving her arms frantically, "AT LAST MY PROJECT IS SAVED!"

"Hi Hanji," Armin said shakily, visibly sweatdropping. "And Professor Rico," he greeted the other politely.

"Good evening, Armin," Rico responded smugly as Hanji rolled her eyes, "I hear you're quite a hit with the neuroscience department. Are you interested in my study? I think you would benefit from coming in."

"It sounds-!" Armin began.

"Oh COME ON, you're not even a professor, Rico!" Hanji exploded, "You're a T.A! Stop being so full of yourself!"

"At least the students respect me enough to treat and regard me as a professor," Rico drawled, "When was the last time you proctored a lab practical?"

Eren watched Armin's eyes nervously darted back and forth between the two before the blonde begrudgingly gave in and signed up for Hanji's research study before she literally exploded (anything could happen with the biology major, after all).

Hanji stuck her tongue out at the grad student as Eren and Mikasa signed up as well. "You won't regret this, guys!" she called after the trio as they finally entered the dining hall for dinner.

"Why do I have a feeling we're really going to regret this?" Eren questioned, suddenly losing his appetite.

\--------------------------------

"So you were the one who planned the pranks on freshman orientation!" Hanji growled, trapping Oluo in a headlock, "How did you even manage to do that while you were gone?! Levi was looking for you for hours after the stunts the upperclassmen pulled."

"My dear, I plan these pranks years in advance!" Oluo choked out, trying to escape from Hanji's grasp, "I take it Lukas did the honours this year?"

Hanji froze and dropped Oluo before kicking him in the knee.

"What was that for!?" Oluo howled in anger before biting his tongue and whimpering in pain.

"Hanji, go easy on him; there's no way he could have known," sighed Petra, slowly pulling the brunette away from Oluo.

"Could have known what?" the man grumbled, picking himself up, "I think my knee is bruised…"

Hanji rolled her eyes as Petra gave a quick glance towards Marco, who was talking to Gunther before she lowered her voice. "Lukas committed a terrible crime against one of our team members and has been expelled from the university."

"Really?" Oluo responded, raising his brow. "Huh, that's weird. I just saw him the other day hanging with some Garrison members."

There was a clang as metal hit the wooden floor.

"What!?" Hanji exploded, causing the other team members to look over. Erwin shot a glance at Levi then frantically tried to hush Hanji, motioning for the other senior members to follow him outside the studio where they could talk. Marco looked confused as Gunther followed the group, then shrugged and went to talk with Jean.

"What do you mean you saw Lukas? He was supposed to have been expelled!" Hanji hissed, seething once she, Petra, Erwin, Gunther, Mike, and Eld had all gathered outside.

"I don't think the question matters if he was seen, it matters where," Erwin said quietly. "Oluo?"

"He was at Garrison fencing studio when I saw him," Oluo recounted, "You know, I always thought he had a knack for fencing…what a shame he joined the football team. Anyway, I had merely assumed that he was interested in taking up fencing and joined the Garrison with his experience operating 3-D Maneuver Gear."

"I thought Garrison practices were off-limits to non-members," said Mike, confused. "How did you get access?"

Oluo rolled his eyes, adjusting his collar and letting out a short cough. "'Get access?' Mike, you seem to be forgetting that I am the 'Savage Sabre!' People all around the world are asking for my extensive coachi-sjdbhsd!"

"He does have a point," Petra pointed out as Oluo nursed his bitten tongue, "With Oluo's skill level and popularity in the fencing world, he technically has access to any fencing studio he wants."

"So do you think he actually joined Garrison?" Gunther asked quietly. The Recon fencing officers were silent as they contemplated the negative impact this would bring.

"Why would he want to join them?" Hanji asked, "They don't uphold the true meaning of what it means to be a fencer. Remember what Levi said?"

Everyone thought back to the day the new team members were chosen and what Levi had said in his speech.

"The Garrison Fencing Team has abandoned the true art of fencing, and has instead focused on creating soldiers by emphasizing the combat side of the sport. They do not care about the intricacies of a match and only survey their opponents to scout for potential new candidates. They will not respect the sport, and more importantly, they will not respect you."

"They're scum," Eld said darkly.

"I might know why Lukas joined, if that's the case," Erwin said slowly, "And I can tell you it's not just revenge for what Levi did to him. But I don't feel comfortable revealing anything unless I know for sure. Oluo, how often are you invited to Garrison practices as a guest?"

"More often now that my new fencing school is up and running!" Oluo replied, grinning. "What, do you want me to be a spy or something?"

"Absolutely not; that is cheating and it destroys the discipline and respect of fencing!" the blonde replied quickly, "But you have been acquaintances with Lukas in the past—I want you to find out why he joined. He's my cousin, and he wouldn't do something so risky like this randomly. He is expelled but Garrison members can be anyone, even if they are not affiliated with Kyojin University."

"You're sure putting a lot of pressure on someone who just returned after two years," Oluo said with a chuckle, "But I owe Recon for bailing out two years ago. You can count on me!"

The group breathed a small sigh of relief. They weren't completely doomed.

"What are going to do about Levi?" Petra asked, "I think we all know what he's capable of doing if he finds out that Lukas joined them. He wouldn't let him live."

"We absolutely cannot tell him," Erwin said quickly, "Under no circumstances is he to find out…or Marco, for that matter. Even if Lukas is on Garrison, there's no way he'd be at any of the matches…he's never fenced a day in his life and it's impossible to learn what it takes to compete in just a month. If we're lucky we won't have to deal with whatever he's planning until after competitions are done."

It was a bullshit conclusion, but it was the only bit of hope they could hang onto at the moment.

"Speaking of competitions, I need to go spar with Levi!" Oluo announced, "I refuse to keep losing to him!"

And with that declaration he abruptly left the group, walking back to the fencing studio and kicking open the door (honestly, with the number of people who had kicked down that door in the past few months, it was a miracle it was still on its hinges).

The others deadpanned the door as it closed, sweatdropping in unison.

"You don't think he'll betray us too, do you Erwin?" Hanji asked darkly once the 'Savage Sabre' was out of earshot, "Lukas used to be his friend."

"Oluo might seem like an egotistical Levi-wanna-be, but he truly respects the sport," Erwin replied, "There was a reason he came back to Recon instead of going to Garrison. We have to trust the idiot."

\-----------------------------------------

"You're crazy," Armin chuckled as he looked over Mikasa's new study schedule, "Are you sure you want to take the MKAT (Medical Karanese Admission Test) this early? You technically don't have to take it for another two years…"

The two were in Mikasa's dorm, comparing new schedules and getting ready to watch a video lecture on Abnormal Psychology. They had both signed up for the same junior-level Neuroscience course—Armin was ahead on his courses and Mikasa was required to take it for her pre-med track.

Mikasa gave him a look as she continued organizing textbooks on her desk. "I figured I might be able to graduate early if I take summer classes…so I want to take the test early as well."

"Ah, that is true; with all of the transfer credits you came in with, you're practically a sophomore," Armin noted, handing back Mikasa her schedule, "I'm sure glad I fell for the most intelligent freshman in the university!"

"Idiot…what is that supposed to mean?" Mikasa growled, throwing a textbook at Armin's head. Armin narrowly avoided being decapitated and used his soccer reflexes to catch the book. Mikasa sighed and sat next to Armin on her bed, taking back her schedule.

"Hey, Armin," she began, fidgeting, "…do you only like me because you think I'm smart?"

Armin was so taken aback by the question that he could only gape at the raven-haired girl, who ducked her head and clenched the sheets with her hands.

"W-wha…" he could only stammer. Mikasa whipped her head up and Armin could see her cheeks blazing red, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. Armin blanched as Mikasa angrily burst out, "It's always the same! People either treat me like a museum exhibit because they think my body is attractive, are too intimidated to talk to me because I'm not just some wimpy pushover, or only talk to me because they want to use me to help with their homework. Why can't people just grow up and ta-!"

Armin pulled her into tight embrace. Mikasa's schedule flew from her hands onto the ground.

"Mikasa, it is true that some people are solely attracted to intelligence, but I'm offended you would ever consider me to be one of those people," he said quietly, feeling Mikasa shake in his arms, "and I can understand why you might be feeling like this…you're under a lot of academic pressure from pre-med, you're under pressure from fencing because you were chosen by Dean Pixis to be his pupil, and I know you're still trying to get over your feelings from Eren now that he's with Levi…"

He spluttered as Mikasa freed her hand and gently punched him in the stomach, but she remained silent.

"But Mikasa, I like you because of everything that makes you who you are," the blonde continued, smiling. "You refuse to accept compliments about how talented you are because you're not; you're an extremely hard worker. I remember how last semester you were so determined to make Recon that you would practice by yourself late at night and come back only to study more for your classes. You're incredibly strong-willed and don't let others sway your perception of a situation as well. You never let your emotions change who you are.

"You're not afraid to stand up for me and Eren…remember when you used to beat up those boys who made fun of me when I was ten because I was so pathetic? I wasn't intimidated by you because you beat up those guys; I thought you were the coolest person ever!

"I guess I'm attracted to how much hard work and dedication you put into achieving your goals; intelligence has nothing to do with it," the blonde finished, "I just wish I could articulate my thoughts better to remind you of just how amazing you really are and why I am incredibly grateful to be with you."

Mikasa gently removed herself from Armin's embrace and carefully took his hand in hers.

"…Thank you," she said quietly. Armin noticed her voice was thick with emotion. The blonde squeezed her hand gently before slowly moving closer to her. As he started to lean in, Mikasa's eyes widened upon the realization of what he was about to do and pushed him away, her eyes narrowing.

"You see? You never let your emotions change you or what you want," Armin said, "Ah, but don't worry! I'm not one of those guys who only wants a physical relationship; I was just doing that to help make a point and I'm sorry if I went too far. I'll only do whatever you're comfortable with. Plus…I'm not really ready to go any further than this myself, hehe."

Mikasa's eyes relaxed, and she scratched the back of her head. She seemed to think for a moment before pulling Armin over and sitting back with him against her pillow. She turned on her computer, pulling up the video lecture before she took his hand and cautiously rested her head on his shoulder.

"…This is fine, I guess," she mumbled as the lecture began to play, "But I don't want…um…I'm not comfortable with kissing or anything at this point…sorry…"

"Not a problem at all," Armin replied, taking her hand in his once more. "This is perfect."

\-----------------------------------------

"Not bad. You've shown improvement in how you articulate your thoughts here," Erwin hummed as he examined Eren's latest paper regarding the origins of the Military Police and their role in response to the Great Titan War.

Eren let out the breath he had been holding, relieved. It was one thing to repeat his English class, and it was another thing to have a fencing teammate as his professor.

"Professor Erwin—"

"We are Recon Fencers, Eren. Outside of the lecture hall you may call me Erwin."

Eren fidgeted. "E-Erwin. Do you….do you think I have a chance of passing this class now?"

Erwin's eyebrows rose slightly. "Is that what you were worried about?"

"I mean…I had to repeat this class…my grades weren't too good last semester," Eren mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Erwin waved his worries aside. "It's common for the first semester to be rough with the transition into college courses. I wouldn't worry about a thing. You're in very good shape. It's just…"

"Is something the matter, Prof—Erwin?"

Erwin's eyebrows were furrowed as he skimmed over one paragraph in particular. "Nothing is wrong, per se, but your writing style and stance on this particular subject matter greatly resembles someone else's whose paper concerning this matter I graded a long time ago…"

Erwin seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he looked up at the brunette, regarding him carefully.

"Have you been talking with Levi recently?"

Eren felt his face turn beet red as incomprehensible noises escaped his mouth.

"Ah, I see that you have," Erwin chuckled, putting down Eren's paper, "He's always had a strong opinion about the Military Police, that one. How did the subject come up?" The other averted his eyes, his hands twitching at his sides. Erwin's chuckles slowly died down.

"We were…he was telling me about an…encounter that he had with the Military Police," Eren replied carefully, still avoiding eye contact with the professor.

"I see," Erwin said in a low voice before he removed his glasses and gently set them down on his desk. "Eren, I want you to be earnest with me so I will be blunt. How much do you know?"

The brunette looked at Erwin's face. Instead of anger or suspicion he was met with an expression of genuine concern. Eren gulped before clenching his fists to stop them from twitching.

"He told me everything," he whispered.

Erwin's expression turned solemn. He didn't respond.

"You…you saved him," Eren said quietly, "And with all due respect, sir, I know it's none of my business but…why did you leave him?"

"It's obviously your business," Erwin replied gently, "If he trusted you enough to tell you about his past, I'm guessing you two have grown…quite close." The freshman ducked his head. Erwin sighed, sitting back in his chair.

"Levi told me you overheard our little…squabble a few months ago," the blonde began. "Petra was not the main reason why I chose to end our relationship. Levi was not listening about my concern for his protection because he's never felt that he had to be protected by anyone else before I found him.

"I ended things with Levi because I believed he was mistaking gratitude for love," Erwin explained, "I was the first person to see what he was truly worth. I gave him a home, an education, a life off of those war-ridden streets. Naturally a strong connection was formed and I can see why he grew so attached. I will admit myself that I far too often let myself…indulge in our shared company…"

He coughed, clearing his throat.

"I will be frank. I believe Levi needs to learn how to truly love in order to keep moving forward. It sounds cliché but you're talking to an English Literature professor. I am not the person who is able to provide this love to him anymore, especially not with what is going on with Lukas."

"What does Lukas have to do with this?" Eren piped up.

"You do not know? He is my cousin. But!" he added, hearing the sharp intake of the other's breath, "That does not mean I choose to associate myself with him. Unfortunately I know of his history with the law and he does have an involvement with the Military Police. I will not subject Levi to anymore pain from that organization, especially not any that is caused by my cousin."

Eren was completely and utterly confused. "I don't understand…Lukas is involved with the Military Police?"

"Eren, what I'm about to tell you is very confidential…not even the Recon officers know about it. Lukas has expressed an interest in joining the Military Police ever since he was a small child. I am sure you have seen that he is very capable with 3-D Maneuver Gear."

The blonde paused, remembering his discussion with the Recon officers about Lukas joining the Garrison.

"Lukas may be gone from Kyojin for now, but I can guarantee you this is not the last we will see of him, especially if what I think is going on in the Military Police turns out to be true."

"And what would that be?" Eren asked, heart pumping.

Erwin contemplated for a moment before replying, "For your and Levi's safety, and because most of this is just my speculation with no conclusive evidence, I will not go into specifics. I will tell you this, however: the Military Police are evolving."

At Eren's silence, he continued, "Eren, I have no right to interfere with your personal life. But I must ask one request of you. Please do not repeat any of the information I have just divulged with you to Levi…please. He's been through enough with them."

Eren looked at Erwin's face and saw that his eyes were shining with something that could not described with words.

"You love him, don't you?" the brunette asked softly.

"I loved him," Erwin corrected him, "But now Petra has a place in my heart."

But as Eren bid farewell to the English professor he could tell that Erwin's last words were not sincere in the slightest.

Back in his study, Erwin sighed as he put Eren's student file back on his desk, leaning back in his chair and covering his eyes with a hand.

"Grisha Jaeger…" he mumbled to the ceiling, "what in the world are you thinking?"

\-----------------------------------------------

"I must admit, this is quite elaborate," Bertholdt said as he, Ymir, and Lukas were led by Rico through the lab. The three Garrison freshman were convinced by Rico to take part in her research study—in fact, they didn't seem to have a choice as Rico threatened to take them off the team if they didn't.

As Rico was the top T.A. in the science department she had access to her own lab, which was underneath the Karanese School of Medicine, and an adequate supply of staff and resources. There were researchers everywhere giving student volunteers a variety of physical and intelligence assessments.

"Is there a reason you're making us do this?" Ymir asked as she watched one grad student observing a volunteer running on a treadmill, "There seems to be more than enough people who signed up for your study…"

"We should at least be getting paid for this like everyone else," grumbled Lukas, raising an eyebrow as he saw another researcher hooking up a girl to something that looked like a vertical MRI machine.

"You'll see," Rico said curtly, pushing back a curtain that led to a more enclosed area near the back of the lab. "And don't worry, you will be more than compensated for your participation."

"More like involuntary participation," Lukas added before Ymir smacked him across the head.

"I've brought them, Doctor," Rico announced as the group entered through an oddly-placed circular doorway. The room they were in looked like a small surgeon room, complete with scalpels and test tubes galore. Near the back of the room a man with his back facing them was busy working on something, his head bent.

"Thank you Rico, you're just on time," the man mumbled, raising what looked like a large syringe and tapping it with his finger, "And I assume these are the new Garrison members, correct?"

"Correct," Rico answered, "If I may leave them with you now, I need to go run some more tests."

The man nodded and Rico departed, the door closing with a suction-like sound, leaving the three Garrison freshmen alone with the man, who finally turned around to acknowledge them. It was difficult to see who it was—the man had a mask covering his face with large spectacles covering his eyes. His hair was tucked underneath a surgeon cap, and he was wearing blue scrubs with the sleeves rolled up to his arms. He offered them each a glass of water, which they all gladly accepted as Rico told them not to drink three hours before coming.

"I must say, you three are a very lucky bunch," the man said quietly, his glasses glinting as he nodded his head, "You get to be the final test subjects before we go public. The fact that you're members of the Garrison means that you don't have to go through all of those silly tests that the other participants are going through out there. You were chosen for this."

"What is this about?" snarled Lukas, crossing his arms. "I thought this was Rico's stupid research project! What do you mean, 'test subjects?'"

"Indeed, this is a part of Rico's efforts to…enhance world medicine," the man replied, chuckling, "And she is one of many who is working for me. I'm overseeing this whole project. You guys were handpicked to be on the Garrison due to your incredible physical and intellectual capabilities whether you realize it or not. Your participation will of course be rewarded with entrance to the Military Police upon your graduation from the Garrison."

"I understood that being in the Garrison was a one-way ticket to working for the Military Police," Ymir said, "But what does this research study have to do with any of this?"

"Yes, Reiner didn't mention anything about being part of a research study," Bertholdt added.

The man raised an eyebrow before sighing.

"I guess it makes sense not everything was explained to you," he began, "And not everything will be. I'll try to make it brief: we are working to create a serum that will…enhance human capabilities. If successful, this serum will have the ability to cure most, if not all invasive diseases as well as prevent those that cross the genetic path. There are a few side effects, but we postulate that these side effects will prove to be more beneficial than harmful."

"A medicine that cures all diseases," Bertholdt said, in awe, "That's incredible."

"Indeed it is," the man responded, his mask shifting as he smiled underneath it. "You guys will be the final ones to both contribute to its creation and its initial distribution. As a reward for your participation you will be injected with a sample of the serum so you may fully reap its benefits."

At this, the lights suddenly went out, replaced by one bright one shining above the operating table in the middle of the room.

"W-what's going on?!" Lukas cried as his vision began to get blurry.

"What did you do to us!?" Ymir shrieked, dropping her glass to the floor as she fell to her knees, swaying. Bertholdt had already collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"You see, engineering a serum that cures all disease isn't easy," the man said as Lukas struggled to stay conscious, the man swimming in his vision, "And we often have to look towards…alternate resources to achieve the perfect solution.

"The missing ingredient for our serum is human spinal fluid," the man continued as Lukas finally collapsed to the ground, "and only the make-up of certain human's spinal fluid will suffice. This, mixed with a bit of some substances extracted from Titan bodies is what makes our serum so special. And we are only able to distribute it through injection as it vaporizes the second it is exposed to air.

"What I need from you three is just a tiny sample of your spinal fluid, and then you will be injected with the serum," the man finished as Lukas' vision was clouded with black spots, "Unfortunately, the process to get your spinal fluid will involve cutting open a portion of the back of your neck, but I hear there are these neat Military Police tattoos being given to free to anyone who helped with the creation of the serum. You can use it to hide whatever scarring remains on your neck after I'm done with you."

As Lukas finally succumbed to the darkness he heard the man say, "And don't worry—you'll find that your fencing capabilities will greatly enhance after we're done as a result of the…side effects."

**Author's Note:**

> Until next time,
> 
> -Jay


End file.
